Reflective Mindreading: Theory of Mind and the Search for Self in Antonio Machado's Soledades

In Antonio Machado's collection Soledades, the poet's search for identity guides an introspective quest where context, body, and mind form an intricate and inseparable connection. By extending cognitive capabilities to his natural environment, the poet, through embodied cognition and Theory of Mind, reads other people's and nature's minds to interpret their intentions, fears, and mental states. This mindreading, in turn, reflects Machado's own interior states, allowing him to apprehend a clearer sense of his identity. Thus, in Soledades, Theory of Mind is a tool that utilizes personal memories, emotions, and thoughts as a part of the search for self. This pursuit is neither entirely physical nor purely cerebral, but rather, employs experiences from the past and present, all created through embodied cognition, to organize and understand the world. Therefore, identity is the construct of past and present mental and bodily experiences intricately intertwined with the natural and social contexts. The poet discovers that he is neither a solitary individual nor merely a dispensable element of a greater society; rather, he represents an essential part of his social and natural context.