Education and Literary Formation: A Search for Regional Thought in CaldasColombia, 18th-19th Centuries

Educación y formación literaria: una búsqueda por el pensamiento regional en Caldas, Colombia, siglos XVIII-XIX

This review article aims to analyze the interaction between edu- cation and literature in Caldas, Colombia, during the 18th and 19th centuries, and their contribution to the formation of a distinct regional thought. It explores the transformative role of education, which shi- fted from being an instrument of colonial evangelization to a means of civic formation influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment and Independence. Likewise, literature is examined as an expression of regional identity, ranging from oral traditions to early printed texts and literary gatherings. The study is based on a qualitative methodology through the review of historical, documentary, and literary sources, which allowed the reconstruction of the region’s educational and cultural development. Among the main findings, the figure of the teacher-writer stands out as a key agent in articulating pedagogy and intellectual production, as well as the importance of cultural diversity in the construction of a regional discourse. In conclusion, it is argued that the convergence of education, literature, and diversity laid the foundation for an autonomous cultural project and provided conceptual tools to rethink the role of the humanities in contemporary educational processes from a decolonial perspective.