Reading Borges after Benjamin

188 pages. Temps de lecture estimé 2h21min.
Together with original readings of some of Benjamin's finest essays, this book examines a series of Borges's works as allegories of Argentine modernity.Together with original readings of some of Benjamin's finest essays, this book examines a series of Borges's works as allegories of Argentine modernity.This book explores the relationship between time, life, and history in the work of Jorge Luis Borges and examines his work in relation to his contemporary, Walter Benjamin. By focusing on texts from the margins of the Borges canon-including the early poems on Buenos Aires, his biography of Argentina's minstrel poet Evaristo Carriego, the stories and translations from A Universal History of Infamy, as well as some of his renowned stories and essays-Kate Jenckes argues that Borges's writing performs an allegorical representation of history. Interspersed among the readings of Borges are careful and original readings of some of Benjamin's finest essays on the relationship between life, language, and history. Reading Borges in relationship to Benjamin draws out ethical and political implications from Borges's works that have been largely overlooked by his critics.Acknowledgments Introduction Abbreviations 1. Origins and Orillas: History, City, and Death in the Early Poems Family Trees A Journey of No Return Borges and His (Own) Precursors Sepulchral Rhetoric Life Possessions Melancholic Fervor The Orillas Acts of Life 2. Bios-Graphus: Evaristo Carriego and the Limits of the Written Subject The Fallible God of the "I" Life and Death  The Other American Poet The Paradoxes of Biography Carriego Is (Not) Carriego Violence, Life, and Law "Generous" Duels 3. Allegory, Ideology, Infamy: Allegories of History in Historia Universal de la Infamia "National" Allegory Ideology Two Moments of Allegory Infamy  Magical Endings Et Cetera 4. Reading History’s Secrets in Benjamin and Borges Historical Idealism and the Materiality of Writing The Conquests of Time History’s Secrets Possession or the "Weak Force" of Redemption Refuting Time   Ego Sum Terrible Infinity Recurrent Imminence Reading, Writing, Mourning History Notes Works Cited Index