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Hispanic Studies: Culture and Ideas 41 Bill Richardson 41 This book examines the relevance of the concepts of space and place to the Borges and Space work of Jorge Luis Borges. The core of the book is a series of readings of key Borges texts viewed from the perspective of human spatiality. Issues that arise in clude the dichotomy between ‘lived space’ and abstract mapping, the relevance of a ‘sense of place’ to Borges’s work, the impact of place on identity, e the impor tance of context to our sense of who we are, the role played by space c a and place in the exercise of power, and the ways in which certain of Borges’s p stories invite us to reflect on our ‘place in the universe’. In the course of this S discussion, crucial questions about the interpretation of the Argentine author’s d n work are addressed and some important issues that have largely been overlooked a are considered. The book begins by outlining cross-disciplinary discussions s e of space and place and their impact on the study of literature and concludes g with a theoretical reflection on approaches to the issue of space in Borges, r o extrapolating points of relevance to the theme of literary spatiality generally. B • n o s d r a h c Bill Richardson is Professor of Spanish at the National University of Ireland, i R Galway. Previously Senior Lecturer in Spanish at Dublin City University, he l has been a visiting professor at numerous universities in Spain, Latin America, l i B the UK and the USA. He has published on Spanish language, translation and linguistics, contemporary Spanish society and a number of modern Spanish and Latin American authors. Currently, his research is focused mainly on the study of literary and linguistic issues of relevance to space and deictic reference in Spanish. ISBN 978-3-0343-0246-3 P L www.peterlang.com eter ang Hispanic Studies: Culture and Ideas 41 Bill Richardson 41 This book examines the relevance of the concepts of space and place to the Borges and Space work of Jorge Luis Borges. The core of the book is a series of readings of key Borges texts viewed from the perspective of human spatiality. Issues that arise in clude the dichotomy between ‘lived space’ and abstract mapping, the relevance of a ‘sense of place’ to Borges’s work, the impact of place on identity, e the impor tance of context to our sense of who we are, the role played by space c a and place in the exercise of power, and the ways in which certain of Borges’s p stories invite us to reflect on our ‘place in the universe’. In the course of this S discussion, crucial questions about the interpretation of the Argentine author’s d n work are addressed and some important issues that have largely been overlooked a are considered. The book begins by outlining cross-disciplinary discussions s e of space and place and their impact on the study of literature and concludes g with a theoretical reflection on approaches to the issue of space in Borges, r o extrapolating points of relevance to the theme of literary spatiality generally. B • n o s d r a h c Bill Richardson is Professor of Spanish at the National University of Ireland, i R Galway. Previously Senior Lecturer in Spanish at Dublin City University, he l has been a visiting professor at numerous universities in Spain, Latin America, l i B the UK and the USA. He has published on Spanish language, translation and linguistics, contemporary Spanish society and a number of modern Spanish and Latin American authors. Currently, his research is focused mainly on the study of literary and linguistic issues of relevance to space and deictic reference in Spanish. P L www.peterlang.com eter ang Borges and Space Hispanic Studies: Culture and Ideas 41 Volume Edited by Claudio Canaparo PETER LANG Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Wien Bill Richardson Borges and Space PETER LANG Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Wien Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche National- bibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Richardson, Bill. Borges and space / Bill Richardson. p. cm. -- (Hispanic studies: culture and ideas ; 41) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-3-0343-0246-3 (alk. paper) 1. Borges, Jorge Luis, 1899-1986--Criticism and interpretation. 2. Space and time in literature. 3. Argentine literature--20th century--History and criticism. I. Title. PQ7797.B635Z883 2012 868’.6209--dc23 2011051499 Cover illustration: Jacques Villon, Chess Board (1920), Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. © Museum of Modern Art, New York / Scala, Florence, 2012. ISSN 1661-4720 ISBN 978-3-0343-0246-3 © Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2012 Hochfeldstrasse 32, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland [email protected], www.peterlang.com, www.peterlang.net All rights reserved. All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems. Printed in Germany For A., C., M. & R., in an infinite greatnesse of Place Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Aleph 27 Chapter 2 City 51 Poetry and Cityscape 53 Death, a Compass and Human Spatiality 62 Immortality and the Timeless City 71 Chapter 3 Deixis 83 Deixis and Space 83 The Warrior and the Englishwoman Change Sides 87 Location, Death, and the Labyrinth of Ibn-Ḥakam 93 Space, Time and Identity in the Garden of Forking Paths 102 Chapter 4 Identity 109 We are where we are – in the South 109 Argentine Locations and the Marking of Identity 125 viii Chapter 5 Power 143 Representational Space and the Magic Ruins 143 The Movements of a Would-be Wizard 153 Power, Powerlessness and Political Space 158 Chapter 6 Cosmos 165 Babel and the Limits of the Universe 165 Otherworldliness and Tlön 182 Epilogue 197 Notes 219 Bibliography 233 Index 245
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