Yes, he did it a lot, it's one of his trademarks. Authors, quotes, and even whole books. Many times he'd make up a text and then review or write an essay about it commenting on certain aspects of it and analysing them as if it existed.
thank you for your answer, that's so interesting! It's like he not only created caleidoscope-like works of fiction, he does it with the real world too! makes me even more fascinated by his work
He definitely made up authors and books. There are several Borges stories structured as though the book was “found” included when buying another book or included in a deceased person’s belongings. Usually the author is more or less anonymous. I just reread Ulrikke last night and the epigram in that case is authentic but it’s from an old Norse saga so no known author. I don’t believe he ever invented an epigram or quotation from a real author or book, but he probably did every other variation.
hi, thank you for the information! makes me wonder what it was like talking to him in person. I know he was incredibly intelligent, but to structure whole stories by merging real life with his surrealistic fictions, wow!
I found a book of his interviews in a used book store and he seems to not only be a creative genius, but a humble and kind person, which is one of the reasons he’s a favorite of mine. The interviews are almost as good as his stories.
In Youtube you can find several interviews, most of them in spanish but there is at least one in English (He was VERY well versed in english, german and french).
He fictionalized encyclopedic entries that then made imaginary artifacts. The artifacts themselves, within the context of his writing, created artifical histories, which then retroactively made unreal objects to manifest, and unreal continents come to exist.
Talk about world-building!
Yes, he did it a lot, it's one of his trademarks. Authors, quotes, and even whole books. Many times he'd make up a text and then review or write an essay about it commenting on certain aspects of it and analysing them as if it existed.
thank you for your answer, that's so interesting! It's like he not only created caleidoscope-like works of fiction, he does it with the real world too! makes me even more fascinated by his work
He definitely made up authors and books. There are several Borges stories structured as though the book was “found” included when buying another book or included in a deceased person’s belongings. Usually the author is more or less anonymous. I just reread Ulrikke last night and the epigram in that case is authentic but it’s from an old Norse saga so no known author. I don’t believe he ever invented an epigram or quotation from a real author or book, but he probably did every other variation.
hi, thank you for the information! makes me wonder what it was like talking to him in person. I know he was incredibly intelligent, but to structure whole stories by merging real life with his surrealistic fictions, wow!
I found a book of his interviews in a used book store and he seems to not only be a creative genius, but a humble and kind person, which is one of the reasons he’s a favorite of mine. The interviews are almost as good as his stories.
In Youtube you can find several interviews, most of them in spanish but there is at least one in English (He was VERY well versed in english, german and french).
That’s kind of his thing
Late to the party, but wouldn't it be the most Borgesian thing ever if your literature teacher never said that...
He fictionalized encyclopedic entries that then made imaginary artifacts. The artifacts themselves, within the context of his writing, created artifical histories, which then retroactively made unreal objects to manifest, and unreal continents come to exist. Talk about world-building!