by Hernán Díaz
First published 2014
Hernan Diaz tackles the split personality of Jorge Luis Borges criticism. In Latin America, scholars read Borges as a literary revolutionary who challenged established hierarchies and elevated marginal voices. Elsewhere, readers know him mainly for metaphysical puzzles and universal themes divorced from any specific culture. One camp saturates their analysis with historical context while the other strips it away entirely. These opposing schools have operated in parallel without direct confrontation. Diaz bridges this divide by examining how politics, philosophy, and literature intersect in Borges's work. He explores how language both restricts and liberates writers. The book reveals Borges's early vision for a distinctly American literature that would speak across the hemisphere.
Genres: biography, history, american-fiction, 20th-century, criticism, 21st-century, latin-american-literature, academic
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Latin America
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
193 pages · Kindle Edition · Not Avail