Jorge Luis Borges in Context

Situates the works of Borges within the contexts of family and culture, Argentine and world history, and reception and afterlife.

Robin Fiddian (Edited by)

9781108470445, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 January 2020

306 pages, 2 b/w illus.
23.5 x 16 x 2.1 cm, 0.57 kg

'… this is an excellent, up-to-date study of the masterful Argentine writer.' J. S. Bottaro, Choice

Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) is Argentina's most celebrated author. This volume brings together for the first time the numerous contexts in which he lived and worked; from the history of the Borges family and that of modern Argentina, through two world wars, to events including the Cuban Revolution, military dictatorship, and the Falklands War. Borges' distinctive responses to the Western tradition, Cervantes and Shakespeare, Kafka, and the European avant garde are explored, along with his appraisals of Sarmiento, gauchesque literature and other strands of the Argentine cultural tradition. Borges' polemical stance on Catholic integralism in early twentieth-century Argentina is accounted for, whilst chapters on Buddhism, Judaism and landmarks of Persian literature illustrate Borges's engagement with the East. Finally, his legacy is visible in the literatures of the Americas, in European countries such as Italy and Portugal, and in the novels of J. M. Coetzee, representing the Global South.

Introduction. Borges in context, context in Borges Robin Fiddian
Part I. Self, Family and the Argentine Nation: 1. Borges and the question of Argentine identity Edwin Williamson
2. Borges and the Banda Oriental Gustavo San Román
3. Borges in person: family, love, and sex Edwin Williamson
4. Jorge Luis Borges's fictions and the two world wars Efrain Kristal
5. Dictatorship and writing (1976–83) Annick Louis
6. The public author and democracy (1984–86) Annick Louis
7. Borges and Las Islas Malvinas Ben Bollig
8. Borges and Sarmiento Sandra Contreras
9. Borges and the Gauchesque Sarah Roger
10. Twenties' Buenos Aires Eleni Kefala
11. Borges and the Argentine Avant-Garde Eamon Mccarthy
12. The Argentine writer and tradition Humberto Nuñez-Faraco
13. Borges, tangos, and milongas Ana C. Cara
14. Borges and Bioy Casares Mariela Blanco
15. Borges and popular culture Phil Swanson
16. Argentine responses: César Aira and Ricardo Piglia Niall Geraghty
Part II. The Western Canon, The East, Contexts of Reception: 17. Borges and Cervantes Roberto González Echevarría
18. Borges's Shakespeare Patricia Novillo-Corvalán
19. The dialectics of idealism Marina Martin
20. The English Romantics and Borges Jason Wilson
21. The early avant garde in Spain Xon de Ros
22. Borges and James Joyce: makers of labyrinths Patricia Novillo-Corvalán
23. Borges and Kafka Sarah Roger
24. Borges and the Bible Lucas Adur
25. Borges and Judaism Corinna Deppner
26. Borges and Buddhism Evelyn Fishburn
27. Borges and Persian literature Shaahin Pishbin
28. Borges and the 'Boom' Dominic Moran
29. Argentina and Cuba: the politics of reception Alfredo Alonso Estenoz
30. Borges and Coetzee Fernando Galván
31. Borges in Portugal Phillip Rothwell
32. Borges and Italy Robert Gordon.

Subject Areas: Hispanic & Latino studies [JFSL4], Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH], Literature: history & criticism [DS]