The Making of Jorge Luis Borges as an Argentine Cultural Icon (Modern Humanities Research Association. Texts and Dissertati)

Jorge Luis Borges is, undeniably, Argentina's best-known and most influential writer. In addition to scholarly studies of his work, his emblematic figure continues to appear on book covers and carrier bags, in biographies, plaques and statues, photographs and interviews, as well as cartoons and city tours. The Making of Jorge Luis Borges as an Argentine Cultural Icon argues that the ideas and expectations that Argentine people have placed upon the author - thus constructing the icon - are also those that allow them to define their cultural identity. The book examines these intertwined processes by analysing the image of Borges in biographies, photographs, comic strips and urban spaces and the socio-political, historical and cultural contexts in which they were produced. The study seeks not to reveal a Borgesian essence but, rather, to expose the complexity of the ongoing mechanisms which construct Borges the icon. Despite the vast amount of biographical and critical work about the writer that has been produced in Argentina and abroad, The Making of Jorge Luis Borges as an Argentine Cultural Icon is the first in-depth, comprehensive examination of the construction of the author as an Argentine cultural icon Front Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Series Details 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 9 List of Abbreviations 11 Abstract 12 Acknowledgements 13 Dedication 15 Introduction 16 A Textual Approach to Cultural Analysis 19 Constructing the Icon 22 Branding Argentina, Branding Borges 23 A Historical Approach 25 Critical Perspective 28 Borges en todas partes: Narrowing down the Scope 31 Outline of the Chapters 33 Chapter 1: Weaving through the Threshold:Literary Biographies of Borges 39 Introduction 39 Literary Biography: ‘Something Betwixt and Between' 42 The Imminence of a Revelation: Borges Off-centre 46 Weaving Through the Threshold: Embroidering Images of Borges 50 (i) Alicia Jurado’s Genio y figura de Jorge Luis Borges (1964) 51 (ii) Emir Rodríguez Monegal’s Borges: Una biografía literaria (1987) 54 (iii) Estela Canto’s Borges a contraluz (1989) 62 (iv) María Esther Vázquez’s Borges. Esplendor y derrota (1996) 68 (v) Edwin Williamson’s Borges: A Life (2004) 71 Conclusion 76 Chapter 2: Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man: Images of Borges 78 Introduction 78 Portraiture: Representation, ‘Realism’ and Subjectivity 81 From Image to Icon: Borges as chora 83 ‘Vi interminables ojos inmediatos escrutándose en mí como en un espejo’: Image and Identity in Borges 86 Constructing Borges in the Post-Perón Years 92 Photographs of Borges on the Covers of Books 94 ‘El nuevo Borges’: Borges’s Centenary and Retrograde Innovation 102 ‘El anciano gurú’: Borges in the Argentine Press 109 The 1970s and Early 1980s and Venerable Borges 113 Borges’s Reception in the USA and the Irreverence of American Photographers 121 Conclusion 125 Chapter 3: Borges para sobrevivientes: Culture,Politics and Comic Strips of the 1980s 127 Introduction 127 ‘Pictureness’, ‘Verbalness’ and Comic-strip Conventions 128 Cartoons, Politics and Borges 130 ‘Entre la alta cultura y las ilustraciones populares’ 138 Argentine ‘New Generations’ and Borges: From Patricide to Restoration 140 ‘Ochenta y dos disfrazados’: Borges’s Relationship with the Videla Regime 145 The Beginning of the Restoration 147 ‘Historietas para sobrevivientes’ 149 ‘Cruce y condensación’: ‘Historia del guerrero y dela cautiva’ in La Argentina en pedazos 153 Perramus: ‘Borges’ guerrillero 156 The Beginning of Closure: ‘El fin’ 164 Conclusion 165 Chapter 4: El desaforado caminador: Buenos Aires’s ‘Borgesian Spaces’ 167 Introduction 167 Spatialities and Identity Formation 172 Buenos Aires siglo XX: From Homogenizing Project to Fractured Reality 175 Buenos Aires Today 178 Buenos Aires ‘marca literaria’: Recorrido Jorge Luis Borges 180 Borges’s Singular Mode of Flânerie 183 Crossing Borders: ‘La inútil discusión de Boedo y Florida’ 187 ‘Yo leo en el bar’: ‘Cafés porteños’ as Borgesian Spaces 191 ‘Ghostly’ Borgesian Spaces 194 From ‘correcta interpretación’ to Posthumous Possession 198 Conclusion 202 Conclusion 203 Bibliography 207 Newspaper and Magazine Articles 215 Articles and Audiovisual Material Accessed Online 215 Miscellaneous Websites 219 Index 220 "Jorge Luis Borges is, undeniably, Argentina best-known and most influential writer. In addition to scholarly studies of his work, his emblematic figure continues to appear on book covers and carrier bags, in biographies, plaques and statues, photographs and interviews, as well as cartoons and city tours. The Making of Jorge Luis Borges as an Argentine Cultural Icon argues that the ideas and expectations that Argentine people have placed upon the author, thus constructing the icon, are also those that allow them to define their cultural identity. The book examines these intertwined processes by analysing the image of Borges in biographies, photographs, comic strips and urban spaces and the socio-political, historical and cultural contexts in which they were produced. The study seeks not to reveal a Borgesian essence but, rather, to expose the complexity of the ongoing mechanisms which construct Borges the icon. Despite the vast amount of biographical and critical work about the writer that has been produced in Argentina and abroad, The Making of Jorge Luis Borges as an Argentine Cultural Icon is the first in-depth, comprehensive examination of the construction of the author as an Argentine cultural icon."--Contratapa Weaving Through The Threshold : Literary Biographies Of Borges -- Portrait Of The Artist As An Old Man : Images Of Borges -- Borges Para Sobrevivientes : Culture, Politics And Comic Strips Of The 1980s -- El Desaforado Caminador : Buenos Aires's 'borgesian Spaces'. By Mariana Casale O'ryan. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.