ANDRÉS BELLO Y EL DISCURSO INAUGURAL DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE (1843): RECEPCIÓN CLÁSICA EN EL IDEARIO EDUCACIONAL CHILENO

Abstract

In 1843, Andrés Bello gave the inaugural speech at the University of Chile, a fundamental milestone in the process of republican consolidation of Chile and the formation of an educational system to achieve a prosperous society. In this context, the Greek and Roman classics had constituted exemplary readings, but their place in school programs was beginning to be the subject of debate. This article addresses these tensions to analyse the discourse from the perspective of classical reception studies. Our hypothesis maintains that Bello, an admirer of the classical tradition, expresses the validity that classical humanism maintained among members of the Chilean intellectual elite as an axiological and discursive model. The analysis shows the influence and reception of ancient classical thought in Bello’s ideology.