Sobre el autor y su obra
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Borges
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Argentina (Buenos Aires), 1899-1986
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International fame achieved during Boom period,
although he wrote before Boom
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Fascination with physics
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Wrote during vanguardia period in Latin America
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His work and style
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Work embraces the “character of unreality in all
literature”
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Writing style was more cosmopolitan
(international) than the previous, regionalist tradition
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Use of magical realism in writing
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Stories break into types/categories:
philosophical, regionalist, detective/mystery
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Common themes in stories: dreams, labyrinths,
libraries, mirrors, animals, fictional writers, philosophy, religion and God
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Other traits include parody, irony, paradox, and
ambiguity
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His works foreshadow many elements popular in
postmodern period: metafiction (“Tlon, Uqbar…”, “El milagro secreto,” “El
jardín…”); review of a nonexistent book (“Pierre Manard”); absurd humor
o
In
his prologue, mentions "desvarío laborioso y empobrecedor el de componer
vastos libros" YES!
****NOTE: There are summaries on Wikipedia (in English) for
all of these stories.
“El jardín de senderos que
se bifurcan” (1941)
Summary
The story takes the form
of a signed statement (in first person) by a Chinese professor of English named
Doctor Yu Tsun, who is living in the United Kingdom during World War I and
working as a spy for Germany. Tsun is a spy because he wants to prove the
intelligence of Asians to racist Germans (racial stereotype). He is being
pursued by Irish police chief Madden, and knows he will be captured soon, but
wants to convey the information about the location of a hidden artillery park
to the Germans. He goes to the house of a professor of Chinese Studies, Dr. Albert.
During his travel there, he reflects on an old ancestor (Ts’ui Pen) who wanted
to write a vast and intricate novel, and create a vast and intricate labyrinth,
but was murdered before he could finish. Dr. Albert reveals that he did accomplish
his goal: the muddled outlines for his novel are actually the labyrinth as
well. Novel outlines / labyrinth = garden of forking paths. Tsun is amazed but
sees Madden outside approaching the house, so he kills Dr. Albert, thus
revealing the location of the artillery park (in Albert) to Germans despite
being captured, since it will make headline news.
General Notes
-Mentions WWI, Brits,
July 1916.
Madden-Irishman fighting with the English-Me pareció increíble que ese día sin premoniciones ni símbolos fuera el de mi muerte implacable.
Madden didn´t suspect that I possessed The Secret. I said aloud, "Debo huir." I got up, as if Madden, "ya estuviera acechándome" Knew what he would find, including a revolver with one bullet. Notes "I´m a cowardly man". Nada me importa un país bárbaro que me ha obligado a ser espía,
Meets a man like Goethe, wants to prove a yellow man can save his armies. Sees Madden, tells him he is "aniquilado". His duel is already planned. Gets 40 minute advantage...
On train, stops in middle of campo. His name is Ashgrove. going to Dr. Albert´s house. Must walk left!
Great grandson of labrynth maker...so, he starts walking and he´s in his grandfather´s garden. His grandfather had been working on a great laberynth project, but no one knew it was actually a book....a place where all possibilities unfold.
Mentions he doesn´t think he would have spend 13 years writing a novel (which is a subaltern genre) Omitting a word, using metaphors is always the most emphatic way to indicate it (similar to message in Encylopedia story)
Tiempos-divergentes, convergentes y paralelos. So, he shoots Albert. Madden arrested me and I´m condemned to the horca. I helped them bomb a German city and Albert was murdered by a desconocido (which was him)....he couldn´t find the city called Albert, so he shot the person. Ends contrite.
Madden-Irishman fighting with the English-Me pareció increíble que ese día sin premoniciones ni símbolos fuera el de mi muerte implacable.
Madden didn´t suspect that I possessed The Secret. I said aloud, "Debo huir." I got up, as if Madden, "ya estuviera acechándome" Knew what he would find, including a revolver with one bullet. Notes "I´m a cowardly man". Nada me importa un país bárbaro que me ha obligado a ser espía,
Meets a man like Goethe, wants to prove a yellow man can save his armies. Sees Madden, tells him he is "aniquilado". His duel is already planned. Gets 40 minute advantage...
On train, stops in middle of campo. His name is Ashgrove. going to Dr. Albert´s house. Must walk left!
Great grandson of labrynth maker...so, he starts walking and he´s in his grandfather´s garden. His grandfather had been working on a great laberynth project, but no one knew it was actually a book....a place where all possibilities unfold.
Mentions he doesn´t think he would have spend 13 years writing a novel (which is a subaltern genre) Omitting a word, using metaphors is always the most emphatic way to indicate it (similar to message in Encylopedia story)
Tiempos-divergentes, convergentes y paralelos. So, he shoots Albert. Madden arrested me and I´m condemned to the horca. I helped them bomb a German city and Albert was murdered by a desconocido (which was him)....he couldn´t find the city called Albert, so he shot the person. Ends contrite.
Themes/ideas
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Writing style is somewhat experimental, since it’s
in form of a signed statement
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Race / racial stereotype
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Metafictitious (sort of) element of the
fictional novel that doesn’t exist and the talking about how it was written
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Labyrinth
“Tlön, uqbar, orbis tertius”
Summary:
There is a fictional
Borges who acts as a character within the story. This Borges comes across an
encyclopedia article about a mysterious country called Uqbar. Borges is
curious, and gradually explores this country more and more, trying to verify
the reality or unreality of this place. Through his studies, the exploration
gradually opens up to include Tlön, the planet where Uqbar is. We learn more
about this other world and their vastly different languages (such as one with
no nouns, and another in which the adjective is the most important component). The
narrator (fictional Borges?) eventually learns that Uqbar is an imaginary
construct of a secret society, dating back to the 17th century. A later
member of the society thought the idea didn’t go far enough and created the
planet Tlön instead. The creation was done decidedly without the “impostor
Jesus Christ,” as if to imply that the world doesn’t need God to exist. Later,
the story jumps to the future (seven years ahead, in 1947), at which point the
entire world has discovered the existence of Tlön, and is in the process of
becoming it and embodying its invented culture, at which idea Borges is
horrified. At end of story, Borges is distracted by his own obsession: a
translation of some intense poetry.
General Notes
Uqbar discovered with
mirror and encyclopedia- called "cyclopedia"
-mentions discussing a novel with a narrator who made it difficult to guess reality. Mirrors and cópula are horrible because they multiply the number of men.
-Narrator doesn´t think Uq. is a real country. Mentions specific details about second edition his friend brings to prove him wrong. Description is vague.
Herbert "padeció de la realidad, como tantos ingleses" (this story includes some cultural humor)
With his friend, he "excluir la confianza y muy pronto el diálogo"--referring to his dad´s friend.¨¨
Herb had a book about Uq, Tlön, and Orbis Tertius...an encyclopedia without place or name.
Tlön was a sociedad de astrónomos, metafísicos, poetas...a planet of idealissm.
Mass of adjectives leads to unobjective reality. Since no one believes in nouns, they become infinite. Also, all time has passed. Also, materialism (palabras perder y encontrar no existen)
reductio al absurdum-unity of all things (e.g. 10 people counting Same number of objects.) Yet, two people looking for the same object might each find it (two total)
now, in March 1941, story is corroborated. People want to invent country....yet an American suggests invent a PLANET! With one condition: la obra no pactará con el impostor Jesucristo. Wants to prove men can create world without God. Now, mentions researcher in 1944. We forget the world is ruled by chess players. Angels say that in the future, world will turn to Tlön.
-mentions discussing a novel with a narrator who made it difficult to guess reality. Mirrors and cópula are horrible because they multiply the number of men.
-Narrator doesn´t think Uq. is a real country. Mentions specific details about second edition his friend brings to prove him wrong. Description is vague.
Herbert "padeció de la realidad, como tantos ingleses" (this story includes some cultural humor)
With his friend, he "excluir la confianza y muy pronto el diálogo"--referring to his dad´s friend.¨¨
Herb had a book about Uq, Tlön, and Orbis Tertius...an encyclopedia without place or name.
Tlön was a sociedad de astrónomos, metafísicos, poetas...a planet of idealissm.
Mass of adjectives leads to unobjective reality. Since no one believes in nouns, they become infinite. Also, all time has passed. Also, materialism (palabras perder y encontrar no existen)
reductio al absurdum-unity of all things (e.g. 10 people counting Same number of objects.) Yet, two people looking for the same object might each find it (two total)
now, in March 1941, story is corroborated. People want to invent country....yet an American suggests invent a PLANET! With one condition: la obra no pactará con el impostor Jesucristo. Wants to prove men can create world without God. Now, mentions researcher in 1944. We forget the world is ruled by chess players. Angels say that in the future, world will turn to Tlön.
Themes/Ideas
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Anticipates postmodern style in various ways –
alternate versions of reality, questions of fact/fiction
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Metafictitious element of invented literature
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Idea of power of imagination
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Some religious criticism
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Power of literature – idea that books are their
own worlds
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Public life vs. private life – Borges chooses to
focus on his own translation work rather than worry about world’s
transformation towards Tlön
“Pierre Menard, autor del
Quijote” (1939)
Summary:
This story is written in
the form of a literary, critical review of a novel that doesn’t actually exist,
which is the fictional 20th-century French writer, Pierre Menard’s,
rewritten version of Quijote. This
rewritten version is actually a line-for-line copy of the original Quijote. The story starts off like a
real review, with a brief introduction and a listing of Menard’s work. The
narrator (Borges?) then describes Menard’s efforts to go beyond a mere
"translation" of Don Quixote by immersing himself so
thoroughly in the work as to be able to actually "re-create" it, line
for line, in the original 17th-century Spanish.
General Notes
-uses words in other
languages in his narration
-begins with a stab at Protestants.
This is the obra de Menard (which includes a variety of famous works visible-also has obra subterránea)
Wrote a few chapters of Quijote-mixes this "para ocasionar el plebeyo placer del anacronismo"
His ambition-producir unas páginas que coincidieran palabra por palabra a Quijote (Isn´t that just copying?)
So, in order to do that, he needs to know Spanish, recuperar la fe católica, start a war with moros or turcos... My proposal isn´t difficult...I´d just need to be immortal to make it happen. And why Quijote? I can imagine the world without it....Puedo premeditar su escritura, puedo escribirlo sin incurrir en una tautología
But, Menard writes the same thing, though Menard "no define la historia como una indagación de la realidad, sino como su origen."
Also, no hay ejercicio intelectual que no sea finalmente inútil. Es lícito ver en el Quijote final una especie de palimpsesto. Menard has enriched the art of reading--la técnica nueva del anacronismo deliberado y de las atribuciones erróneas. Wouldn´t it be a sufficient renewal of "esos tenues avisos espirituales" to attribute imitación de cristo to James Joyce?
-begins with a stab at Protestants.
This is the obra de Menard (which includes a variety of famous works visible-also has obra subterránea)
Wrote a few chapters of Quijote-mixes this "para ocasionar el plebeyo placer del anacronismo"
His ambition-producir unas páginas que coincidieran palabra por palabra a Quijote (Isn´t that just copying?)
So, in order to do that, he needs to know Spanish, recuperar la fe católica, start a war with moros or turcos... My proposal isn´t difficult...I´d just need to be immortal to make it happen. And why Quijote? I can imagine the world without it....Puedo premeditar su escritura, puedo escribirlo sin incurrir en una tautología
But, Menard writes the same thing, though Menard "no define la historia como una indagación de la realidad, sino como su origen."
Also, no hay ejercicio intelectual que no sea finalmente inútil. Es lícito ver en el Quijote final una especie de palimpsesto. Menard has enriched the art of reading--la técnica nueva del anacronismo deliberado y de las atribuciones erróneas. Wouldn´t it be a sufficient renewal of "esos tenues avisos espirituales" to attribute imitación de cristo to James Joyce?
Themes/Ideas:
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Questions the nature of authorship and
translation
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Somewhat metafictitious in that it explores the
writing process
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Absurd humor
“La muerte y la brújula”
(1942)
Summary:
Lönnrot is a famous
detective in an unnamed city based on Buenos Aires. He is assigned to the case
of a rabbi that is murdered in a hotel room. In the room, there is a message
left on a typewriter that says “The first letter of the name has been uttered.”
Lonnrot connects this with the Tetragrammaton, the unspeakable four letter name
of God. Exactly a month later, there’s another murder with the same message, 2nd
letter has been uttered. Another month later, there’s a third murder, saying
that the last letter has been uttered. Lonnrot thinks that there still must be
one more murder, because there are 4 letters. Gets an anonymous tip to look at
a map of where murders occurred, and decides that logically the next murder
will be in southern corner of the city. He goes there, and is captured by the
criminal Red Scarlach. Apparently Lonnrot had arrested Scarlach’s brother, so
Scarlach came up with this elaborate plan to catch L to kill him for revenge.
Lonnrot says that he had made his labyrinth/maze too complex, and calmly
accepts his death at Scarlach’s hands.
General Notes
(Choses exotic,
non-Spanish names), begins with unavoidable crime, committed by Yarmolinsky
w/Scarlach=participant. First crime in Hotel du Nord
Theory: Tetrarca has sapphires, someone wanted to rob him and come here by mistake. Loonrot: that's not an interesting enough explanation. I think we need an rabbinical explanation. Other guy says, "He's Christian," doesn't want to consider Jewish superstitions. Loonrot thinks it's important to discuss the many names of God.
2nd crime: In WEST suburb, in an alley. Victims: last of a generation who knew to use a knife and not a gun. Says "second letter of his name has been articulated."
Crime 3, Feb. 3rd. Call from a calle salobre with burdel y un vendedor de biblias (ridiculous combo). The guest had been paid the overpriced rent. Never left. Detective sees sentence-"Last letters of name have been articulated.: Newspapers start to publish news of assassination of Jews. Card arrives and predicts no 4th crime because the three others made perfect, mystical triangle. But, Loonrot things they are planning a 4th, so he relaxes a bit...now, takes train to strange quinta. Perfectly, oddly symmetrical property. The house isn't too big; he thinks mirrors make it seem bigger. Scarlach is there, "You've been so kind to save us a night....Three years ago, you arrested my brother, so I took refuge here and world felt like a laberynth. So, I swore to build one to trap the man who arrested my brother. The first murder was a mistake bc the guy got drunk. Me dediqué a justificar esa (su) conjectura. Justifies other deaths. Third death was simulacro. Loonrot tells him, "There are too many lines in your laberynth. But then, he shoots him.
Theory: Tetrarca has sapphires, someone wanted to rob him and come here by mistake. Loonrot: that's not an interesting enough explanation. I think we need an rabbinical explanation. Other guy says, "He's Christian," doesn't want to consider Jewish superstitions. Loonrot thinks it's important to discuss the many names of God.
2nd crime: In WEST suburb, in an alley. Victims: last of a generation who knew to use a knife and not a gun. Says "second letter of his name has been articulated."
Crime 3, Feb. 3rd. Call from a calle salobre with burdel y un vendedor de biblias (ridiculous combo). The guest had been paid the overpriced rent. Never left. Detective sees sentence-"Last letters of name have been articulated.: Newspapers start to publish news of assassination of Jews. Card arrives and predicts no 4th crime because the three others made perfect, mystical triangle. But, Loonrot things they are planning a 4th, so he relaxes a bit...now, takes train to strange quinta. Perfectly, oddly symmetrical property. The house isn't too big; he thinks mirrors make it seem bigger. Scarlach is there, "You've been so kind to save us a night....Three years ago, you arrested my brother, so I took refuge here and world felt like a laberynth. So, I swore to build one to trap the man who arrested my brother. The first murder was a mistake bc the guy got drunk. Me dediqué a justificar esa (su) conjectura. Justifies other deaths. Third death was simulacro. Loonrot tells him, "There are too many lines in your laberynth. But then, he shoots him.
Themes/ideas:
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Detective story
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Labyrinth
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Deciphering messages
“El milagro secreto”
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Summary: The main character of the story is a playwright
named Jaromir Hladík, who is living in Prague when
it is occupied by the Nazis during World War II. Hladík is arrested and charged
with being Jewish as well as opposing the Anschluss, and sentenced to die by
firing squad. Although he at first experiences simple terror at the prospect of
death, Hladík's main concern soon turns to his unfinished play, titled The
Enemies. His previous works he feels to be unsatisfactory, and wants to
complete this play, which he feels to be the one by which history will judge
and vindicate him. With two acts left to write and his death sentence to be
carried out in a matter of days, however, it seems impossible that he could
complete it in time. On the last night before his death, Hladík prays to God,
requesting that he be granted one year in which to finish the play. That night,
he dreams of going to Clementinum library, where one of the books contains God
within a single letter on one of the pages, which the old, bitter librarian has
been unable to find despite looking for most of his life. Someone returns an
atlas to the library; Hladík touches a letter on a map of India and hears a
voice that says to him, "The time for your labor has been granted". The
next day at the appointed time, two soldiers come for Hladík, and he is taken
outside and lined up before the firing squad. The sergeant calls out the order
to fire, and time stops. The entire world freezes motionless, including Hladík
himself, standing in place before the firing squad; however, although he is
completely paralyzed, he remains conscious. After a time, he understands: God
has granted him the time he requested. For him, a year of subjective time will
pass between the sergeant's order and the soldiers' firing their rifles, though
no one else will realize that anything unusual has happened - hence, the
"secret miracle" of the story's title. Working from memory, Hladík
mentally writes, expands and edits his play, shaping every detail and nuance to
his satisfaction. Finally, after a year of labor, he completes it; only a
single epithet is left to be written, which he chooses, and time begins again
and the volley from the soldiers' rifles kills him.
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Themes
o
Context of war
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Experimentation/play with sense of temporality
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Metafictitious element of exploration of writing
process
“El sur”
Summary:
The protagonist, Juan Dahlmann,
is of mixed Argentine and German descent. He gets a copy of Arabian Nights and is so enthusiastic to
read it that he falls and injures himself, and is sent to the hospital with a
high fever. In the hospital he suffers a lot from his treatment and feels
humiliated and hateful. After various days in the hospital he is told he is
recovering, and sent to his ranch home (where he has never been) to rest.
Dahlmann takes the train to the rural pampa. During his travels, he’s got some
delirious hallucinations that are left to the reader to interpret, and he reads
the book Arabian Nights off and on. Upon
arrival in pampa area, he goes to a restaurant, where some rowdy, drunk ranch
workers start to bother him. He’s annoyed and wants to defend himself, but
doesn’t have the means. A gaucho throws a knife to him. Dahlmann knows he will
lose in a knife fight but thinks it’s a worthy, honorable way to die, so he
goes for it. The story ends at this point. The story can be interpreted as “honest,”
in the thought that Dahlmann really did go out to the pampa and get involved in
a knife fight, or as an idealized representation of the way that Dahlmann would
have liked to die, as his thoughts during his actual death in the hospital.
General notes
Evangelical pastor, Dahlmann
Disembarked in Buenos Aires in 1871. In 1939, his grandchild felt very Argentine. Maternal grandfather died in war with indios. Dahl reads 1001 Nights (leads to nightmares). Sees woman with a bloody hand, goes for exray, head buzzed, chained to table. Woke up in a well-like cell. Hates himself. Physically suffering. He's told he can convalesce somewhere else. Weird time-space: he's drinking coffee, petting a giant cat that's not really there. On a train, "Dahl pudo sospechar que viajaba al pasado y no sólo al sur."- Now eating at table. Opens book again. "Para tapar la realidad." Now, another patron (tipsy) takes out a knife, challenges the unarmed Dahl. Something unexpected happends. A gaucho threw a dagger to his feet. So, although he's untrained, he's going to fight, which he thinks is a good way to die. Then, story puts us back in sanitorio, where it seems all of these are just Dahl's visions before they stick him with a needle.
Disembarked in Buenos Aires in 1871. In 1939, his grandchild felt very Argentine. Maternal grandfather died in war with indios. Dahl reads 1001 Nights (leads to nightmares). Sees woman with a bloody hand, goes for exray, head buzzed, chained to table. Woke up in a well-like cell. Hates himself. Physically suffering. He's told he can convalesce somewhere else. Weird time-space: he's drinking coffee, petting a giant cat that's not really there. On a train, "Dahl pudo sospechar que viajaba al pasado y no sólo al sur."- Now eating at table. Opens book again. "Para tapar la realidad." Now, another patron (tipsy) takes out a knife, challenges the unarmed Dahl. Something unexpected happends. A gaucho threw a dagger to his feet. So, although he's untrained, he's going to fight, which he thinks is a good way to die. Then, story puts us back in sanitorio, where it seems all of these are just Dahl's visions before they stick him with a needle.
Themes/Ideas
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Somewhat regionalist feel to this story, unique
to the Argentine pampa
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Various versions of reality
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Active reader participation
“Tres versiones de Judas” (not actually on list…)
2nd century, when
Basílides published that the cosmos was a "temeraria o malvada
improvisación de ángeles deficientes, Nils directed a gnostic convent. Minor
heretic. Mentions factual things (dates, publishes his thesis, which was
either negligent or blasphemous. For Nils, these writings "justificaron y
desbarataron su vida" Everything written about Judas is false. Judas
turned in CHrist to force him to declare his divinity and begin a rebellion
against el yugo de Roma. To identify a master like Jesus, didn't need apostles;
he always had a crowd. Judas helped Jesus (become famous?) Someone
who distinguished Jesus deserves a nicer interpretation of his acts. He worked
with a "gigantesca humildad"-thinking himself unworthy of being good
to save us, God picked Judas, an infinite punishment to have discovered and
divulged (secret) horrible nombre de dios.
Common characteristics of [all] the stories
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Themes of religion, secrets, deaths
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Mentions 1001/Arabian noches; other exotic,
foreign names…
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Various realities or questioning of nature of
reality and fact/fiction
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Cosmopolitan/international feel, yet some
aspects linking back to Argentina and Buenos Aires (such as frequent mentions
of “south” and unnamed cities that are reminiscent of Buenos Aires)
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Frequent mention/use of World War I (social
context) – Borges’s interest in what was going on in the world
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