Borges & Writing: Ways of Understanding,

The course aims to provide a comprehensive reading of Borges’s body of work. We will begin with his early texts—specifically those from 1920 (essays and poems)—to examine the development of his poetics. We will then move on to his initial works of fiction, dating from the 1930s, contextualizing them within the landscape of the Argentine avant-garde. Next, we will read what is considered his "masterwork"—centered on Ficciones—from the 1940s. We will study his international acclaim as viewed through European perspectives (including L’Herne and Michel Foucault, among others). We will also focus on certain collaborative works, particularly those written with Adolfo Bioy Casares. After analyzing his final texts, we will critically examine the concepts of "collected works" and autofiction. The course will conclude with a reflection on Borges’s writing within the context of the contemporary Latin American literary scene and world literature. The course will be supplemented by readings from leading critics of Borges’s work.