Against Borges - (Iberian and Latin American Studies) by Patricia N Klingenberg (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Situates the work of four women writers who were part of Borges's circle in the history of women's writing generally, drawing on feminist theory from Europe and North America as well as from Latin American perspectives.

Against Borges examines four women writers--Norah Lange, Silvina Ocampo, Estela Canto, and Silvina Bullrich--who are not often considered together, but who each had their literary start within the close-knit circles dominated by Jorge Luis Borges in Buenos Aires's mid-twentieth century. The title plays with the double meaning of the word "against," signifying opposed or resistant, but also touching or supported by. In each case, the writers benefited from early support by Borges, but eventually found their own voices, different from his and also from each other's. These writers struggled as much as their nineteenth-century counterparts to find ways to represent in fiction a particularly feminine subjectivity. This study acknowledges their similarities and also highlights their originality. More importantly, it seeks to undo some of the misperceptions about them that persist to the present day, especially regarding their paths through the fraught politics of Argentina's twentieth century.

Review Quotes

"Klingenberg's revelatory study of Norah Lange, Silvina Ocampo, Estela Canto and Silvina Bullrich gives a fascinatingly rich and textured reading of these women's works and their importance for later writers. Her careful and nuanced analyses of their texts - which can too easily seem puzzling and problematic from the perspective of twenty-first century feminisms - bring a wealth of new insights. Klingenberg points us to Lange's modernity regarding women's sexuality, Canto's revision of noir conventions and critique of hypermasculinity in Argentinian society, and Bullrich as precursor of contemporary debates on conflicted attitudes towards maternity. Ocampo is read through the motif of the hidden artist throughout her work. Meanwhile, Borges recedes pleasingly into the background, leaving these strong women and their work centre stage."-- "Fiona Mackintosh, University of Edinburgh"

About the Author

Patricia N. Klingenberg is professor emerita at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.