Out of Context: Historical Reference and the Representation of Reality in BorgesDuke University Press, 12.03.1993 - 216 Seiten In Jorge Luis Borges's finely wrought, fantastic stories, so filigreed with strange allusions, critics have consistently found little to relate to the external world, to history--in short, to reality. Out of Context corrects this shortsighted view and reveals the very real basis of the Argentine master's purported "irreality." By providing the historical context for some of the writer's best-loved and least understood works, this study also gives us a new sense of Borges's place within the context of contemporary literature. Through a detailed examination of seven stories, Daniel Balderston shows how Borges's historical and political references, so often misread as part of a literary game, actually open up a much more complex reality than the one made explicit to the reader. Working in tension with the fantastic aspects of Borges' work, these precise references to realities outside the text illuminate relations between literature and history as well as the author's particular understanding of both. In Borges's perspective as it is revealed here, history emerges as an "other" only partially recoverable in narrative form. From what can be recovered, Balderston is able to clarify Borges's position on historical episodes and trends such as colonialism, the Peronist movement, "Western culture," militarism, and the Spanish invasion of the Americas. Informed by a wide reading of history, a sympathetic use of critical theory, and a deep understanding of Borges's work, this iconoclastic study provides a radical new approach to one of the most celebrated and—until now—hermetic authors of our time. |
Inhalt
Introduction History Politics and Literature in Borges | 1 |
Menard and His Contemporaries The Arms and Letters Debate | 18 |
The Labyrinth of Trenches without Any Plan in El jardin de senderos que se bifurcan | 39 |
Prague March 1939 Recovering the Historicity of El milagro secrete | 56 |
Cryptogram and Scripture Losing Count in La escritura del dios | 69 |
Going Native Beyond Civilization and Savagery in Historia del guerrero y de la cautiva | 81 |
On the Threshold of Otherness British India in El hombre en el umbral | 98 |
Behind Closed Doors The Guayaquil Meeting and the Silences of History | 115 |
Conclusion | 132 |
Notes | 139 |
185 | |
205 | |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
Out of Context: Historical Reference and the Representation of Reality in Borges Daniel Balderston Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 1993 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
Aleph Alvarado Amritsar años Argentine arms and letters Avellanos Barrès battle Benda bifurcan Bioy Bolívar Borges story Borges's British Buenos Aires Cakchiquel Čapek captive cautiva chapter Chilam Balam civilization colonial critics culture Czech debate destiny Dewey discussion Don Quixote Droctulft edition escritura del dios essay fact Fanny Haslam Ficciones fiction French Gandhi German Gibbon graphology Guayaquil Guayaquil meeting había hecho Historia del guerrero Hladík hombre India intellectual interesting jaguar jardín de senderos Jorge Luis Borges José Karel Čapek Kipling Kipling's Laprida later Lecuna Letras libro Liddell Hart literary literature Lombards Maya milagro secreto narrative narrator Nîmes novel Obras Orbis Tertius Pierre Menard poem political Popol Vuh Prague published Quiché reader realidad reality reference San Martín Sarmiento savagery says Schopenhauer Sorel Spanish Stephen Albert Suárez Sulaco Sylvia Molloy tiempo Tlön translation Tzinacán umbral universal Valéry Yu Tsun Zimerman