Stepping Towards a More Inclusive Nation: A Contextualized Reading of Carlos Wyld Ospina’s ‘El movimiento teosófico en la Ciudad de Guatemala’

Abstract

In 1923 Guatemalan author Carlos Wyld Ospina gave a speech celebrating the induction of members to the Theosophic lodge he co-founded in 1922. This article studies this address as a call to action that advocated for an inclusive nation at a time when the hegemonic discourse perpetuated the positivist ideology of exclusion. To begin, I contextualize the author and locate him in the evolution of Guatemalan Literary Studies. Next, I trace the global route of Theosophy and outline how Wyld Ospina funnelled this ideology into Guatemala. Then, I read Wyld Ospina’s speech delineating his plan of nation building, and I point to ideological continuities he was to voice in two articles in 1938. Finally, I suggest that this continuity of thought recontextualizes Wyld Ospina’s literature and opens it to new interpretations, and I define the epistemic value of these rereadings as one that will allow for the further study of the pivotal and dynamic role of race throughout Guatemalan national history.