Poetica de la brevedad en Borges

Authors

José O. Alvarez, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Spanish

First Advisor's Name

Santiago Juan-Navarro

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Ricardo Castells

Third Advisor's Name

Florence L. Yudin

Date of Defense

11-16-2005

Abstract

Although he did not write copious novels, endless essays, or long poems, Jorge Luis Borges is considered one of today's best modem writers. His works have never been more than ten pages long. The purpose of this dissertation is to demonstrate that the willing use of concise expression in Borges's writings is inscribed in a poetic worldview of great implications. This view is based on the synthesis of philosophical, literary, and cultural issues that Borges interprets, discusses, refutes, and re-elaborates with a new conjectural approach.

This dissertation is based on a methodological review of all his current scholarly work and on a thorough examination of the four volumes of his Complete Works, edited by Emece, in 2002. His pantheistic vision, the epiphanic moments, and his love/hate relationship with language, conform an aesthetic of resounding silence that enlightens the hidden aspects of his brief masterpieces.

Even though Borgesian studies flood the library he once imagined, they have been presented in an isolated manner. This dissertation establishes a link among the various aforementioned aspects as studied by Borges scholars, and demonstrates the powerful influence of Borges's illuminating and precise vision.

Paradoxically, the poetry of brevity in Borges's works is filled with allusions to the things that Borges silences, because, from a panoramic pantheism, his words almost reach an epiphanic enlightenment that flashes between preterit and future nothingness.

By replacing extension with intensity, and mastering the art of omission, Borges's laborious work reaches power and concentration that only the very greatest talents can achieve. His delicate verbal conciseness provides his readers with a virtually infinite freedom of imagination because it exposes them to the chaotic world of mythical probabilities, where an instant encompasses etemity.

Identifier

FI14031606

Recommended Citation

Alvarez, José O., "Poetica de la brevedad en Borges" (2005). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1264.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1264