El hacedor o la paratopía creadora
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Date
2021-05-31
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Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes. Centro de Estudios de Teoría y Crítica Literaria
Abstract
Description
A lo largo de la década del cincuenta, y especialmente a partir de 1955, la figura de
Borges se consolida como centro del campo literario argentino, con cargos oficiales (director
de la Biblioteca Nacional, profesor de la Universidad de Buenos Aires) y una cada vez mayor
notoriedad pública, dentro y fuera del país. El hacedor (1960) es el primer libro que el escritor
publica después de su canonización y, en este sentido, puede pensarse como una respuesta
a un problema recurrente en la trayectoria de muchos escritores, aunque rara vez planteado
de modo explícito: ¿cómo seguir escribiendo después de la consagración? El hacedor
tematiza la construcción de una figura de autor —como es evidente desde el título y en textos
como “Poema de los dones” y “Borges y yo”—, a partir de la recuperación de datos biográficocontextuales que se inscriben y reelaboran en la obra. Estos elementos que participan, a la
vez, del texto y del contexto han sido denominados por Maingueneau embragues paratópicos.
La ceguera y la fama, dos de los motivos más recurrentes en el volumen, funcionan como
embragues paratópicos, que posibilitan un des-centramiento del escritor, la construcción
de un posicionamiento inestable, donde el máximo poder coexiste con la máxima debilidad.
Este lugar de enunciación paradójico-paratópico es lo que le permite seguir escribiendo
después del éxito.
Throughout the 1950s, especially from 1955 onwards, Borges consolidated his status as the core of the Argentine literary field, by holding official positions (as the Director of the National Library, as a lecturer at the University of Buenos Aires) and by increasing his visibility in the public sphere, both national and internationally. El hacedor (1960) was the first book to be published after his canonization and, for that matter, it can be thought of as a way of reacting to a frequent problem for writers with a long-standing career, which is not often stated explicitly: how to keep on writing after reaching consecration? El hacedor focuses on building an authorship figure that recovers biographical information from his context, introducing and reframing it for the volume. These kinds of elements that participate simultaneously in the text and its context were called paratopic shifters by Maingueneau. Borges’ Blindness and Fame, two of the most recurring motifs of this work, operates precisely as paratopic shifters, for they create an unsteady ground that allows a decentered position for the writer to stand on, a position where the highest power coexists with the greatest weakness. This paradoxical/paratopical locus of enunciation is what makes it possible for him to continue writing after accomplishing success.
Throughout the 1950s, especially from 1955 onwards, Borges consolidated his status as the core of the Argentine literary field, by holding official positions (as the Director of the National Library, as a lecturer at the University of Buenos Aires) and by increasing his visibility in the public sphere, both national and internationally. El hacedor (1960) was the first book to be published after his canonization and, for that matter, it can be thought of as a way of reacting to a frequent problem for writers with a long-standing career, which is not often stated explicitly: how to keep on writing after reaching consecration? El hacedor focuses on building an authorship figure that recovers biographical information from his context, introducing and reframing it for the volume. These kinds of elements that participate simultaneously in the text and its context were called paratopic shifters by Maingueneau. Borges’ Blindness and Fame, two of the most recurring motifs of this work, operates precisely as paratopic shifters, for they create an unsteady ground that allows a decentered position for the writer to stand on, a position where the highest power coexists with the greatest weakness. This paradoxical/paratopical locus of enunciation is what makes it possible for him to continue writing after accomplishing success.
Keywords
Borges, El hacedor, Canonización, Paratopía