I Read and Write Your Soul: The mourning work for Yin in the Writings and Poems by Gabriela Mistral

Abstract

Based on the findings of a research in Gabriela Mistral’s personal library (Barnard College collection) in the museum dedicated to her in Vicuña, Chile, this article focuses on the readings (books on theosophy, Eastern philosophies, esotericism, novels) and writings (prayer notebooks, diary notes, dreams, poems) that the poet made following the suicide of her son Yin Yin. We propose that these activities accompany and influence each other, becoming grief works according to the Freudian concept, i.e. a laborious and reiterative process of detachment of the libido from the lost object, allowing Mistral to gradually rebuild herself and accompany her son’s soul in its transit. These practices are understood from the theoretical framework of psychoanalysis and also from their dimension of manual practices, which is why aspects such as the handwriting of prayers and marginalia in books are analyzed. Thus, the multiple intersecting influences in terms of content and psycho-emotional impact between the readings and the texts produced, even après coup, become evident, while the process of mourning emerges in all its complexity and inevitable reiteration. Secondarily, the relevance of including the study of Mistral’s library in the specialized critique is proven.