THE QUESTION OF IDENTITY IN BORGES’S “EL ALEPH” AND “EL SUR” ‘Dima fondgrap [ecitaatinic atts come coma con fie iy 36 constructed. Tass nt surpising nso a ces such a co- Jenlalpos clonal or mine sais genealy deal with cases where ssymmetal relations of power can be found whch allow the stronger {70up to define not only sts own communicated image bit ls that of ‘the other, infor group urbe, this Kind of constructed dent plays an important fle in the pital and sci if of al sockets. However, ‘hereareterary stat dea wit postoonil or minotky eons and athe samatie show that the relevance of identity forthe ndidal and soclety goes beyond the question ofsocaland pial power. Inthe wore ‘ot Jorge Luis Borges the tos “El Aleph and “El Su” provide inrgu ing examples which nether the traditional, normative notion of calle: te identi nor the postmodernist, dconstructlonst approach ae able twoeyplatn, niet (2006) relates the eseniit oncrption ofdenty prealent is premodern Europe tothe Patonic and Chistian de ofthe eteral sul and opposes ito constructions conception. As long a socal change ‘vas nota common experience for members of pre-moder, gi ga {1 “Tego avebeen tmnt nplishy he ator Variances» 2082i i ned European sods, he essentialist conception was unquestioned is thesis which he lutsates with an analyse of work by Lug Pian Gel, stat soil change and personal feedor in modern societies show us thi the eset conception is enonecus. cording to him, ‘dest inevitably is aconsrucion because ls "wleelaonal"itreles co therelaion berween the and the se andon the zelaon between the 1 and ts socal surounding (2). Meni is the result ofthe interaction ‘between ses two relations 2nd Ir has o be nanate, which implies se lectienesa pont of vew andan interpretation. Thus denitycannotbe escrbedobectvely (2), ‘Nonetheless linker’sasseion that in moder ies identity tums outta bea doubtfl and precios constuction" and an “outdated Se alse" (9-20) appears harsh when confronted with his analysis of representative tens by Panel. fous, the protagonist In fu Mat tia ase experiences a radial challenge of his personal ientty in the ‘course ofthe novel be cannot even confirm anymore “chemi chia ‘Matis Pata" (that myname was Matta Pascal whlch had been forse lasolacosa eho sapess ceo" (*maybethe onl thing knew forse") (Grande 3), Tis, howese, se a his own temp o escape his de Spised orignal identity and start new lle under the mame of Adriano Mes, Wit his new, autonomously construed [det he beomesS Sil slated He s aan without a pas, condemn to incomprehen: slon and onelines because he has tole with secet* ‘Can we decide wha we are and construct out Ment witout limi tions although Kiker stresses the diposible elements of identi he aso mentions that conciousness conceves of the fas aneny which Is subjec i ime and thus to change" but which, nonetheless potsesses| 2 "nucleus of cnstant tures,” sch as payclogcal fetus or depo- ‘sion, certain eapacties and sl, sensations memories and emotions, ‘the own physcaly, he capacity to recognize aneel aa body ora face tn the mlor” (23) Widening the Ronan, also mother and ihe, the close social suroundings, and the language and culture which provide 2 i (aloes he sc dimension of peor et: ihr Prpletanetsbebeto conte at mp a ssn Of ue, eae [nau peri! ary ancbelare dawn) ws ery hein sebset Seu mpl the semiotic elements neesary for consciousness, communication and self-expression hve tobe mentioned. The decisive question show the ‘onsant and non-gposble elements and the changing, rational ones In regan to he cllctve dimension of identity, Klink’ expan: tions canbe replenished with the theory felt memory. developed by ‘the archcologst fan Assmann andthe pilloglst Aka Assmann. sie aly the authors conceive of culture as equivalent to acolctive memory st ke individual, collectives posses 2 shorctenm and 2 longterm memory, While short-term memory s dominantly orl and inte to the span f one generation, longterm memory (in western societies) ‘based on non-ral media. The essen pont fr understanding the ge ‘ss ofcolletve ident the funtioning of the ong erm memory. To ‘css of arhived content have tobe distinguished dunt and mon mets While any ween ext fl, cording, ets dace which can ‘be recaled, only monuments Le archived content which s permanently recalled by a large number of members f the collective ae constutine forcolcve deny, Doumens constantly become mowsnats and mone mvt dsapear rom the longterm memory andberome dcunet, This, the cultural memory is continually hanging Further it is nt necessary that all members of acllectve el every monument. Is fice that every member bef wi certain number of monument that all rmemersofthe colle share sufientrumbercfthem This explains ‘wy people el that hey belong to acertan culture without a common Aeyeerenton haw ths culate hasta be define in detail Although its not hirati, the cultaral menor does nat change abropiy and abit ly Together with thenuceus of constant personal features mendonedby Klink teonstutes another element tat conditions not aly colecive but als individual Henty because the inalidual rls on semiotic Suces (Lecture) to think conceive oad expres sel. LORGES ANDTHE QUESTION OF IDENTITY Several of orgs most famous works deal with the question of individ ualandcolletve dentin short stores suchas "E1Sur (953), 2nd"EL ‘Ale. rom the collection withthe same i 1949), he ssue ied lamp With regard to his ess, the ole iterate ply forthe con ‘The ueston oC entity in Bort’ “EL Alpi and“ Su”Dione Lynyaf sittlon of collective ident i discussed most excl n “H esrtor ‘xpentino yl adie” fom 1953” Reading “El Aeph” alongside hs ‘esa, iia Rosman ses the question ‘What does it mean to bea tentine wre (23). Beloveescussing her arguments il ge 857 pas ofthe try. “ElalepB snot only one of Borge'smost famous storesbut also on cof te most complet It i statement on poetic dels with the nits ‘of human perception and teary representation exemplified by te ieas ofeteriy fina simslanelyandit poses the question ofall ‘entiy with regard zgerine oct and Hear ‘Te plot begin with the promonis og (to dferetate betwen the authorand the character, weUse ais fr thea) visto the fay of ate Retin Viterbo the day of her bitday in 941 He ha been in ‘umeguted ove with this woman, and sinc her death in 129, the a> rl vss ober father and her ous, eros Argentino Danes have come pat of aid ofc afer Stimulated by various gases ofognac, Danes whois portayed asa highly dsagresble, conceited and tuple peton tells Bye about is work on apoer eile Le Tir wich has zo lesser purpote thn to dese the entize planet Several dys ate, anes ass the protagonist to ep him convince another author to pen a prlogueto his poem, which Bans promises but doesnot do because ofthe poor quality the work si hs pes. Several months ater, Barges teventualy ges to know how Danes could concrive his absurd purpose, Since the lte’s howe is abut to be torn down, he confesses to DOES that an lp point in space which contains allother points, hidden [Tyre ona oneness rin 5 In the Clg be Fens sapere vor pase tin os anda owe odin Dt ‘Ohscnpe 14 -Acoing iid denote ut ae Vek sind th er ‘aula th whom hte baer abso ota he) nto es mays wit bah terbebrhan wh ews eingrantes 3h 5 Tlsmgh ben also eras Cano Geno Fe te te pth Shu tag uty and opotecbech ee fas. {Mary is do et ny tee ft C8 let) wh 2 pa Teer See he“) et age th btw eee is rreiretagacatans ‘nhiscelarandbe ines the protagonist o come ad se. The xe ences verhelming tat the etme, “nfable” (nq) the aleph evs th hole univers a one (nich dos no der Boxes dcscbing it masterly, 5 Danie Balderston shows ins ake abot “The tong Sentence in Borg’ ‘El Alpi"). Thanks to this expec, orgsaloleao about oben eters which esti woe the cin Cares centino, hom he now amis toate. The protagnis dees to take vengeance on im by pretending that he fantastic spot in he ce Uaronly essa Danes imaginaon The ony ends wih posse Sram esate ogi sucky thet hat hls work erate del ‘ahr “unbelebhas ot ben ken into onieration forte Peo ‘acon de Lest wares Dass poe Bas een vated with he second prize. The ast ines bing sme theoretal considerations about thealepy the protagonist. ‘corig to Bosman," cna focus of EAs ot ont Boge esrejeonofaceatn pe cfnaonalti erature butt eplte the consequences of grounding leary production on the basis ofa pie enn fairl cle (23) Iner opinion, Dare exemple the nemo cree a"atnal eta” which chim toplathe oe ofa “dent neath by expresing "nel rath Foe Dan the Aleph isthe posbity of founding national myth ‘Throgh he experience ofthe Aleph Der wishes 0 eae atoalng Iau, a eaten whic image and meaning wil converge and ‘whose ey language wil be the revatio of turk of the th of hit oem ae epeenave of the natonal commun, ela Lugo Ode seals (8) Hererplanation of why Danes lls refers to Walter Besjamin'sreecions ‘on the elation between the original text and is translaton, Based onthe Insight hata wordby word uasltonwilotennotbe able to communi cate thecrginal meaning she tiesto establish heron nrmatve defin- ton ofthe le ofthe national weer. The essential de she derives fom orgs say “El autor argentine yf tradicibn” is that, paradox a national author has to integrate frig elements or orgs. then the Argentine wt an only bec by hat mane whe he abandons hms, aes ase bends pet oil Ingupon eter snss of ahundoado” eked othe tans orphan. ‘Tue ueston of lent in Borge's“E Aleph and“ Sur*Die Lond hod anderen oftstady). someone ouside tele othe fay suc) Ad In other words: “Neither marginal, central por ‘n-berween’ in “EL ‘Aleph’ (194) Borges calls fora permanent dislocation ofthe writer and ‘fing (1). Rosman’ interpretation gives seo several questions Since Danes des at all bout national centy and since hie project ito describe the whole planes (he has aleay deseribed pats of Queensland and Ve- racrr},how do we know that he has theintenton of creating "national smyth? Isnt universalism Ctotling Itrature” “revelation of truth,” ‘the aleph shows everthing, not limited to Argentina) the cpposte of nationalism which promotes the cutaton andthe protection ofthe ‘uniquenessofanatinbyaseclisin om everthing hats diferent and comes fom outside? Daner might shae the sion of mimetic lism (eruh means ae epresnation of ely for hi) with the nationalist ‘deslogy of isting buta nationalist woold sey hold the apni tat the national weiter’ tas to descabe is wn county relic. Thus, {would merely be comet to say hat Dane’ understanding of realism as alo shared by natlonalists othe time, Waue certainly toe at, onthe one han, he story mocks the cncrp of mimetic relsm and ht, ‘on the other handthe essay open cites natonalistic ear arms, {cis questionable whethe the story self or the essay allow to derive 2 diferent nermatve concept of national ierature "the Argentine verter ‘an onlybecalledby that rame when.” Fly bow an being “ouside the legal offi stretures bea nesessay condition forbeing good wee ot an Argentine writs? Pan, Rosman’s dubious conclusions are base on her interpretation of Borges ounterarguments against the na- tionals postion asa general condition oranorm, wile pay he show that she considers the story and the essay (two texts of much diferent 7 Tsleamighbe duet amundrandngSyning'o ge anedsrpon 2 ray (anna vss Sas’ commet eb he fae comm he fi theaters Aen) he wt nthe ng My tne ‘es els ha ee ene one wy noma ly Nt ‘The sponte neste Le sre mephor syne e 3 Sng ler ra sey pede han man eo wat ithe ra tettobe noe tem -weightan whic belong odiferent genres) atwo complementary pats ofthe same argument Ithus will ake acer distinction between them. "BL ESCRITOR ARGENTINO LATRADICION” est argentno ya wadén” shows how much Borges was a un ease wth some popular dea of his tme and atthe same time how di ‘ulti isto eplain the constitution of identities in diferent vay The tert starts wth questioning the problem itself by cling ita “simlaco" and a“seudoprcberna” (267). However, this doesnot mean that Borges ents the eitence and imipotnce of callecve denies bu ony that Dethinks hat the relationship between erature (el esctorargentino") and collective identity (a tain") becomes an rif problem when ‘rms ate exablisbed on how Iteratue has o be In ener to be consi cred Argentine His conhision shoes that he snot of the epinon that ‘there arejust writers who happento writin (Argentine) Spanish an live fore ban Born in Argentina bt that he acepts the ea of some sort oftebetween people who define themselves a Argentine Only hes not able werplan thse tis: Povesorepitoqueno debemes emery que debemospesirquemesto ioalo ese unlveso;ensajar tos los tama, y 90 podemos ences alo argetine paar arentnos: porque ser aentino ‘ually en eects veremo de cles do, ote ‘oes uname eecacco unas (Geo qu nor abundonanee ee so vluntao que se Tama a teal ans, seremos arpntins seem, tama, buenos 6 toleabiesescioes. (27370) les posse that the cosmopolitan water Borges would nt even ave fet the need to explore the sue and tht he nly does ic because of his agreement wih populace. Accordingly the ety limited almost ‘elstvely ote refrain of conventional explanation. The ager part (asy-72) deals with postions which Borges clls“natonalisti” sree tion of them is cea: "Ia idea de quel poesia argentina debe abundar en. rasgos ierendals argetins en clarlocl argentine me parece ‘una equrocacén” (29) He rings, basil, two counterargurents: ‘la poesia gauchesca..es un géner lita rif eomo cualquier to" {068) and “1s naconalistassimulanvenera as capacdades dela mente 8 in orgs BI Aleph and“ Sur” ‘The Question of entDion Lon argentina pero qulerenLimiureletcidopodtc de esa mente a algunos Pobre temas locales (271). These arguments ae supported by theft ‘thatmany of the most amiable representatives of diferent national te atures in Europe age integrate otis and themes fom eter clued ‘tations: halesparechampion alan subjets and Racine orented lost excuse towards Gee and Roman ant ‘wother ested postions are deal with very bid Fis, Barges denies that Argentine lterature has tobe foundeoa the wadton of Span Ish teature because “la historia argentina pede definite sin equro ‘adi como un querer apanarse de Esp" (271) and Because, an Ing this penal obseraton, Spanish peninsula erry texts are zat access t most common Agentne readers. Secondly, be modkngly eects the Kea that young nations such Argentina are sencllmente selos..comoer les pimeros das dela resin’ (a72)because he thinks thats on) reveal a pathetic deseo el paca and insesting. ‘The author's own answerto the question of Argentine waton isnot very sain forthe reader: Creo que nase adi toda ners adel y eo abla ‘ue tenemos derecho aeration major quel qb pede eee rane dena ots acon stl (23) 11s ofcourse completely legiimat for a writer ofa inspled by le ‘ments fom other cures and languages. However, readers will nat ognize an author as Argentine besuse he brings together the whale of ese culture (orev ore just kein other urea great ae of| feet inuencescan be found in works whichbelong othe Argentine ‘raion, bu ths tadton Its surly not based on the asimlation ofthe ene western cultural heritage Borgs's answers net convincing because tacks consistency with gard 9 his own eique of the reject ex postons. Wiat ats him in he eke of nationalists definkions is the nonmatveappreac: the Argentine writer can ony be called by that name when. Theeifculyin nding apostve anawee to the question oidentiy comes rom the mpossbllyof etiningit normative However, possible explain how elu identity emerges Borges is ‘ery coset it when he argues as falls: edo lo gue bans con feed ee xrte agence peenscerd eran renin deal mo qo el had dea eas al ‘nos penance al tén Gentes po ob Chace de Shake spose (73) (Obviously this idea resembles the theory of ele memory. “Hacer con feledad” means that he wes works accepted by the readers (in this case especially Argentine eaers) and consequent becomes monument of Argentine culture The ats doesnot have tolook or uidelines how tobe argentine instead, he parcpates inthe creation ofcltureand thus of deny wih is works. sentence fn “EL Aleph whighf tered In| a ferent contex (he nara’ fiat in describing his experience) es further inacations ofthe ellcive dimension of eur identi and the constitution of cultural ingroup: “Todo lenguse es un alabeo de simboloscuo eric presupone un pasado que ls inerloutores| comparen (64) Culture very similar to language, and language is sn important pr of culture, Both requite a grup of people who share A number of semiotic elements and a ode. These condition are created by clic experience, ie a commen past Its onl tes logical tara assembly of people of diferent origin who have come together recent ‘willnot shea commen culture ann consequence, wl find icult tofeelsolidarty foreach other andto esublish smooth andeficent socal Iteration Culture traton and en need me o row and they ae fragile. They cannot be prescribes and organize by authorises and that {shy the normative nationalistic approachs obviously ernecus ‘To understand the erty poles tha forms par of] Aleph" is nlp to takeinte consideration the context ofthe ston’ genesis was ‘writen as reaction fo the ack wick the author had to endure when putsed ove forthe Premio Naclonl de iteratra in 1942? Wheres tice |) decng 1 Jah Poe (7). he en “pots emit al meds de ‘ons apt ee use opened la de Se 4 Inher an fe "xr hol Ser etl ones ris ‘Sxl fom he Pam acon Pode hers dened asta hee. {Shtet and oye oie a neces wc lowe teal “The Queton of entity in Borge's“E Aleph” and“ Sur™