Between books, forests and wishes: the literary formation of young Neruda

Abstract

This paper examines aspects of the literary formation of Pablo Neruda, focusing on the reading of poems written in his youth, and his critics and biographers (TEITELBOIN,  1994;  LOYOLA,  2010;  SICARD,  1981).  We  identified  in his texts an author that seeks his dearest themes, tries formal procedures and, especially,  creates  a  poetic  world  which  will  continue  in  his  most  famous works. The analysis highlights the impact of his readings and the relevance of  some  biographical  passages,  like  first  love  experience,  family  life  and student militancy, discussing the echoes of these passages in the central work of the Chilean poet, with special focus on his romantic lyric and sociopolitical oriented poetry.