[SOLD OUT] Reading Borges with Luciano Martínez | Virtual Course

Registration

• Tuition for this course is $250. Members receive exclusive discounts on our programs and courses. Not a member? Learn more.
• This course is limited to participants who are 18 years of age or older.
• Please check your spam folder for your email confirmation. If you have questions, please call (215) 732-1600 or email [email protected].
• Registration opens for Delancey Society on August 16, for Rosenbach members on August 23, and for the general public on August 30. 

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Description 

Join us in commemorating the 80th anniversary of Jorge Luis Borges’s groundbreaking work, Fictions (1944-2024). Explore the profound impact of Borges, a towering figure in 20th century literature, whose works revolutionized modern fiction and scientific thought. Born on August 24, 1899 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and passing away on June 14, 1986 in Geneva, Switzerland, Borges dedicated his life to literature, both as a writer and as an irreverent reader. Every line and declaration by Borges was deliberate, shaping an enduring legacy that continues to be quoted and debated.    

In The Western Canon, Harold Bloom lists key Western authors and ranks Borges highly, calling him the most universal Latin American writer. Viewing Borges as a writer without nationality, as he is sometimes considered, can be deemed fair because he excels in working within all cultural traditions. However, this universalistic perspective overlooks his connections to Argentine and Latin American cultural heritage. This course aims to explore Borges from both angles: as a universal writer and as one who reinvents his own cultural history.   

Through a close examination of his masterful storytelling in Fictions (1944) and other seminal works, such as A Universal History of Iniquity (1935) and The Aleph (1949), we will unravel Borges’s adept fictionalization of theoretical and philosophical dilemmas while preserving the aesthetic brilliance of his narratives. In addition to exploring Borges’s fiction, we will delve into some of his renowned non-fiction essays, providing valuable insights into interpreting his short stories.   

By the course’s conclusion, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of Borges’s literary vision and the evolution of his central themes, including labyrinths, infamy, crime fiction, memory and time, identity, and history.   

Borges syllabus

About the Instructor

Luciano Martínez is a Professor of Spanish at Swarthmore College, where he also serves as the chair of the Division of Arts and Humanities. He has additionally served as chair of the Department of Spanish, coordinator of the Latin American and Latino Studies and the Gender and Sexuality Studies programs, and Spanish section head of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Prof. Martínez teaches classes on various subjects, including contemporary Latin American literature and culture, literary theory with a focus on Jorge Luis Borges, Colombian literature featuring Gabriel García Márquez, and identity within 21st century literature. Dr. Martinez recently led a course for the Rosenbach on One Hundred Years of Solitude by Márquez.