The Secret of Borges: A Psychoanalytic Inquiry into His Work

by Julio Woscoboinik, Dora Carlisky Pozzi

Overview

The Secret of Borges approaches the complex, labyrinthine writings of Jorge Luis Borges from a Freudian perspective. The author searches for connections between the works of Borges by analyzing his writing and gathering information on his life from various sources, including in-depth interviews with those who worked as assistants for the blind writer. This analysis examines in minute detail the writer's style and literary and rhetorical resources, following Borges's path as he evolved from his 'narcissistic solipsism' to the establishment of Oedipal links. The author explores the track of fantasy associations, the treatment of feminine characters in Borges's short stories, the dreams and nightmares constantly retrieved and reiterated through his work, memory, and the challenges of self identification, and the Borgean view of the problem of time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761812395
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	10/22/1998
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.34(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.53(d)

About the Author

Julio Woscoboinik is a practicing psychoanalyst in Argentina and a member of the International Association of Psychoanalysis. Dora Carlisky Pozzi is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Houston.

Table of Contents

chapter 1 Acknowledgments chapter 2 Prologue chapter 3 Borges in Two Metaphors chapter 4 A Psychbiography of Jorge Luis Borges chapter 5 The Literary Style chapter 6 The Man chapter 7 The Unthinkable Borges chapter 8 From Asterion to Oedipus chapter 9 Borges, the Man at the Pink Streetcorner chapter 10 Emma Zunz: The Enigma of a Name chapter 11 The Unspeakable: Primal Scene and Secret chapter 12 Endymion in Buenos Aires chapter 13 The Man Resembled the Voice chapter 14 Dreams and Nightmares in Borges chapter 15 Borges, Author of Hamlet chapter 16 Circular Time: Another Borgean Tautology

Editorial Reviews

Overviews the Argentinian author's life, searching for events that triggered creative works, and analyzes his style. Analysis continues with specific short stories, discussing sources, structure, and levels of signification. Addresses Borges' relations with women, his stuttering, and his dreams, then reviews events of the writer's old age. First published as El secreto de Borges. Indagacion psicoanalitica de su obra, Grupo Editor Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1988. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews