You Might Be Able To Get There From Here: Reconsidering Borges And The Postmodern

201 Pages·2005·0.83 MB·English

by  Mark F. Frisch

You Might Be Able to
Get There from Here:
Reconsidering Borges
and the Postmodern
Mark Frisch
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
You Might Be Able
to Get There
from Here
..........................10764$ $$FM 10-15-0415:11:45 PS PAGE1
This page intentionally left blank
PAGE2
You Might Be Able
to Get There
from Here
Reconsidering Borges
and the Postmodern
Mark Frisch
•
Madison Teaneck
FairleighDickinsonUniversityPress
..........................10764$ $$FM 10-15-0415:11:45 PS PAGE3
(cid:2)2004byRosemontPublishing&PrintingCorp.
Allrightsreserved.Authorizationtophotocopyitemsforinternalorpersonaluse,
ortheinternalorpersonaluseofspecificclients,isgrantedbythecopyrightowner,
provided thata base feeof $10.00, plus eightcents per page,per copy ispaid di-
rectlytotheCopyrightClearanceCenter,222RosewoodDrive,Danvers,Massachu-
setts01923.[0-8386-4044-3/04$10.00(cid:3)8¢pp,pc.]
AssociatedUniversityPresses
2010EastparkBoulevard
Cranbury,NJ08512
ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstherequirementsoftheAmerican
NationalStandardforPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials
Z39.48-1984.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Frisch,MarkF.,1950–
Youmightbeabletogettherefromhere:reconsideringBorgesandthe
postmodern/MarkFrisch.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8386-4044-3(alk.paper)
1.Borges,JorgeLuis,1899—Criticismandinterpretation. 2.
Postmodernism(Literature) I.Title.
PQ7797.B635Z7163 2004
868(cid:1).6209—dc22 2004008044
printedintheunitedstatesofamerica
..........................10764$ $$FM 10-15-0415:11:46 PS PAGE4
ToBeth
..........................10764$ $$FM 10-15-0415:11:46 PS PAGE5
This page intentionally left blank
PAGE6
Contents
Acknowledgments 9
ANoteontheTextsCited 11
1. Introduction: ‘‘ElAleph’’(TheAleph)and‘‘Lacasade
Asterio´n’’(TheHouseofAsterion):BetweenMonism
andChaos 15
2. A LatinAmericanPostmodernism?ABorgesPerspective 30
3. Pluralism,Meaning,Postmodernity,andBorges 49
4. Borges, theSelf,andthePostmodern 75
5. Women,Feminism,Postmodernity,andBorges 95
6. Borges, UniversalHistory,andHistoricalRepresentation 113
7. Borges, Politics,andthePostmodern 130
8. Borges, thePostmodern, andtheLiteratureofthe
Americas: Cienan˜osdesoledadandTheUniversalBaseball
Association,Inc.,J.HenryWaugh, Prop. 147
9. BorgesinHisOwnWordsandSomeImplicationsforthe
PostmodernDebate 166
Notes 179
Bibliography 183
Index 195
7
..........................10764$ CNTS 10-15-0415:11:47 PS PAGE7
This page intentionally left blank
PAGE8
Acknowledgments
I
WANTTOGIVESPECIALTHANKSTOTHESTUDENTSINMYCLASSESONTHE
postmodern and on Borges at Duquesne University and at La Uni-
versidadNacionaldeCo´rdoba,whoallowedmetotestsomeofthese
ideas and whose valuable insights provided me much to consider. I
amgrateful totheFulbrightFoundation forthegrant toArgentina,
which helped advance this project. In granting me a leave of ab-
sencetotake advantageoftheFulbright opportunity,aPresidential
Scholarship Award, and a sabbatical leave to work on various parts
of this manuscript, Duquesne University helped make the comple-
tionofthisprojectpossible.Iwanttothankthejournal,Confluencia,
for permission to use major portions of my article on Borges’s im-
pactonRobertCoover’snovel,TheUniversalBaseballAssociation,Inc.,
J. Henry Waugh, Prop. I am grateful to la Fundacio´n Internacional
Jorge Luis Borges and to la Sra. Kodama for permission to cite
Borges’s texts in Spanish. My thanks also to Stanley Kurtz, Donald
Petesch, Mimi Yang, and Margaret Mary Vojtko whose careful read-
ings,comments,andsuggestionshelpedimmeasurably.Iamdeeply
indebted to Beth, Ben, and David. Without their love, support, pa-
tience,andunderstanding,thisstudywouldnothavebeenpossible.
9
..........................10764$ $ACK 10-15-0415:11:51 PS PAGE9