A Midsummer Drift--Exchange on the Rise of Jorge Luis Borges in China
by Lostalley
Hi Edgar,
When first introduced to the writer by you, I sensed, far-fetched it may seem then, Borges would be a hit in China. As predicted, he has become one, even bigger than expected. Literary merits aside, his recent stardom owes to two factors: Borges' unflinching stance as an anti-Peronist; Latin America's idiosyncratic hybrid of economical liberalism and political dictatorship in the past resonates with China's present reality. The former appeals to the Chinese intelligentsia as a symbol of absolute literary freedom beyond time constraint and national boundary, while the latter offers a subconscious narrative for the myth of 30-year China success story that creates both euphoria and myopia. The fact that Borges was nominated dozen times as a Nobel Literature candidate but failed eventually only reinforced the notion, in a Chinese mindset, that the Swedish academy is bent on political correctness prejudiced against true rebels. Borges’ sainthood in China, unsubstantiated but understandable, tells more about Chinese intellectuals’ search of an independent identity, unconfined by national, racial and cultural limits, than the reaffirmation of his real worth. In Borges, China's thinking elite has found an unlikely advocate for their crusade against the political environment reminiscent of Peronist Argentina. Unknowingly, after his death in 1986, from a Latin writer obscure in China then to a literary giant elevated to the statue of Jean Paul Sartre now, Borges has been transformed by the Chinese pro-western translation and publication circles into a ubiquitous post modern anti-hero. A glimmering hope to the writers caught in an existential dilemma in which life is just a fait-accompli.
Your friend,
Ethan
Dear Ethan,
What a fascinating turn of events. But I am not too surprised. Borges was very interested in China and in Japan. With the Far East, rather than the Middle East or India. He read German, British and French Orientalists, and their translations of classics such as Dream of the Red Chamber. And he used this literature in ways similar to those you say Chinese intellectuals are using his: to distance himself from the illusions of his own culture, to think. There are many references to China in his fiction and non-fiction. So this is really for grown-ups, not for writers that owe 90% of what they are to advertisement and the eco chamber of New York literary magazines. I would love to be able to follow this debate in China, to correspond with Borges' translators, and with writers who write about him. As usual, you are the best guide to what we do not see about China.
All the best,
Your friend,
Edgar
Note: My friend, Edgar, a Smithsonian research fellow and anthropologist, is from Argentina. He wrote extensively on Borges.
08/05/2015, Bethesda, Maryland
