Jorge Luis Borges in Context

308 Pages·2020·1.663 MB·English

by  Robin Fiddian

JORGE LUIS BORGES IN CONTEXT
JorgeLuisBorges(1899 1986)isArgentina’smostcelebratedauthor.
Thisvolumebringstogetherforthefirsttimethenumerouscontexts
inwhichhelivedandworked;fromthehistoryoftheBorgesfamily
and that of modern Argentina including his fascination with the
Banda Oriental, through two World Wars, to events including the
Cuban Revolution, military dictatorship, and the Falklands War.
Borges’s distinctive responses to the Western tradition, Cervantes
andShakespeare,Kafka,andtheEuropeanAvant Gardeareexplored,
along with his appraisals of Sarmiento, gauchesque literature and
otherstrandsoftheArgentineculturaltradition.Borges’spolemical
stanceonCatholicIntegralisminearlytwentieth centuryArgentinais
accountedfor,whilstchaptersonBuddhism,Judaism,andlandmarks
of Persian literature illustrate Borges’s engagement with the East.
Finally, his legacy is visible in the literatures of the Americas, in
Europeancountriessuch as Italyand Portugal,and inthe novels of
J.M.CoetzeerepresentingtheGlobalSouth.
robin fiddian is Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford
andtheauthorofeightbooksandover50articles.Themajorityofhis
publicationsareontopicsinSpanishAmericanliterature,including
thenovelsofFernandodelPaso(2000)andshortfictionsofGabriel
GarcíaMárquez(2007).HismostrecentbookisPostcolonialBorges.
ArgumentandArtistry(2017).
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
JORGE LUIS BORGES
IN CONTEXT
edited by
ROBIN FIDDIAN
UniversityofOxford
Published online by Cambridge University Press
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doi:10.1017/9781108635981
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names:Fiddian,RobinW.,editor.
title:JorgeLuisBorgesincontext/editedbyRobinFiddian.
description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,
2020.|series:Literatureincontext|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
identifiers:lccn2019038148(print)|lccn2019038149(ebook)|isbn9781108470445
(hardback)|isbn9781108635981(epub)
subjects:lcsh:Borges,JorgeLuis,1899 1986 Criticismandinterpretation.|Argentina
Intellectuallife 20thcentury.
classification:lccpq7797.b635z74842020(print)|lccpq7797.b635(ebook)|
ddc868/.6209 dc23
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Contents
ListofIllustrations pageviii
ListofContributors ix
Acknowledgements xii
Permissions xiii
NoteonPrimarySourcesandEditionsUsed xiv
Chronology xv
NoteonTranslationsandAbbreviations xxi
Introduction:BorgesinContext,ContextinBorges 1
RobinFiddian
part i self, family, and the argentine nation 9
1 BorgesandtheQuestionofArgentineIdentity 11
EdwinWilliamson
2 BorgesandtheBandaOriental 18
GustavoSanRomán
3 BorgesinPerson:Family,Love,andSex 26
EdwinWilliamson
4 JorgeLuisBorges’sFictionsandtheTwoWorldWars 35
EfrainKristal
5 DictatorshipandWriting(1976–1983) 43
AnnickLouis
6 ThePublicAuthorandDemocracy(1984–1986) 51
AnnickLouis
v
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vi Contents
7 BorgesandLasIslasMalvinas 59
BenBollig
8 BorgesandSarmiento 67
SandraContreras
9 BorgesandtheGauchesque 75
SarahRoger
10 1920sBuenosAires 83
EleniKefala
11 BorgesandtheArgentineAvant-Garde 92
EamonMcCarthy
12 TheArgentineWriterandTradition 99
HumbertoNúñez Faraco
13 Borges,Tangos,andMilongas 106
AnaC.Cara
14 BorgesandBioyCasares 115
MarielaBlanco
15 BorgesandPopularCulture 123
PhilipSwanson
16 ArgentineResponses:CésarAiraandRicardoPiglia 130
NiallHDGeraghty
part ii the western canon, the east, contexts of
reception 139
17 BorgesandCervantes 141
RobertoGonzálezEchevarría
18 Borges’sShakespeare 149
PatriciaNovillo Corvalán
19 BorgesandtheDialecticsofIdealism 158
MarinaMartín
20 TheEnglishRomanticsandBorges 166
JasonWilson
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Contents vii
21 BorgesandtheFirstSpanishAvant-Garde 173
XondeRos
22 BorgesandJamesJoyce:MakersofLabyrinths 180
PatriciaNovillo Corvalán
23 BorgesandKafka 188
SarahRoger
24 BorgesandtheBible 195
LucasAdur
25 BorgesandJudaism 204
CorinnaDeppner
26 BorgesandBuddhism 211
EvelynFishburn
27 BorgesandPersianLiterature 219
ShaahinPishbin
28 Borgesandthe‘Boom’ 228
DominicMoran
29 ArgentinaandCuba:ThePoliticsofReception 236
AlfredoAlonsoEstenoz
30 BorgesandCoetzee 244
FernandoGalván
31 BorgesinPortugal 252
PhillipRothwell
32 BorgesandItaly 259
RobertS.C.Gordon
FurtherReading 267
Index 276
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Illustrations
1 GrowthofBuenosAirescomparedwiththatofother page84
importantcitiesinthedecade1893–1902,inAnuario
EstadísticodelaCiudaddeBuenosAires.AñoXIII‒1903.
Reproducedwithpermission.DirecciónGeneralde
EstadísticayCensos–MinisteriodeEconomíay
Finanzas–GobiernodelaCiudaddeBuenosAires.
RepúblicaArgentina.
2 XulSolar,B.A.BuenosAires,gouacheandwatercolour,30× 90
45cm,1929.PrivateCollection.Reproducedwithpermission.
AllrightsreservedFundaciónPanKlub-MuseoXulSolar.
viii
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Contributors
lucas adur is Professor of Latin American Literature at University of
BuenosAires.
alfredo alonso estenoz is Associate Professor of Spanish at Luther
College,Iowa.
mariela blanco is Jefe de Trabajos Prácticos de Literatura Argentina,
Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and Investigadora Adjunta de
CONICET.
ben bollig is Professor of Spanish American Literature, University of
Oxford,andFellowofStCatherine’sCollege.
ana c. cara isProfessorofHispanicStudies,OberlinCollege,Ohio.
sandra contreras is Profesora Titular de Literatura Argentina,
Universidad Nacional de Rosario and Investigadora Independiente de
CONICET.
corinna deppner currentlyholdsaPostdoctoralpositionatUniversity
ofErfurt.
xon de ros is Professor of Modern Spanish Studies, University of
Oxford,andFellowofLadyMargaretHall.
robin fiddian was Professor of Spanish and Spanish American
Literature at the University of Oxford until his retirement in 2015. He
isnowEmeritusFellowofWadhamCollege.
evelyn fishburn isHonoraryProfessoratUniversityCollege,London
andEmeritusProfessor,MetropolitanUniversityofLondon.
fernando galva´n isProfessorofEnglishLiteratureattheUniversityof
Alcalá,Madrid.
ix
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x ListofContributors
niallhdgeraghtyisLecturerinLatinAmericanCulturalStudiesand
LeverhulmeEarlyCareerFellowatUniversityCollegeLondon.
roberto gonza´lez echevarr´ıa isSterlingProfessorofHispanicand
Comparative Literatures at Yale University and a Member of the
AmericanAcademyofArtsandSciences.
robert s. c. gordon is Serena Professor of Italian and Fellow of
GonvilleandCaiusCollege,Cambridge.
eleni kefala is Senior Lecturer in Latin American Literature and
CultureatUniversityofStAndrews.
efrain kristal isDistinguishedProfessorofComparativeLiteratureat
theUniversityofCaliforniaLosAngelesandaFellowattheInstitutefor
AdvancedStudyinBerlin.
annick louis is Maître de Conférences Habilité, Université de Reims-
Champagne-Ardennes and Membre de l’équipe pédagogique de
l’EHESSParis–CRAL.
marina mart´ın is Professor of Hispanic Studies, College of Saint
Benedict,SaintJohn’sUniversity,Minnesota.
eamon mccarthy is Lecturer in Hispanic Studies, University of
Glasgow.
dominic moran is Faculty Lecturer in Spanish and Student of Christ
Church,Oxford.
patricia novillo-corvala´n is Senior Lecturer in Comparative
Literature,UniversityofKent.
humberto nu´n˜ez-faraco is Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Latin
AmericanStudies,UniversityCollege,London.
shaahin pishbin ispursuingdoctoralstudiesatUniversityofChicago.
sarah roger isanassistantprofessorofEnglishandCulturalStudiesat
McMasterUniversityinCanada.
phillip rothwell holdstheKingJohnIIProfessorshipofPortuguese
Studies at the University of Oxford, where he is a Fellow of St Peter’s
College.
gustavo san roma´n is Professor of Spanish at University of St
Andrews.
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