Infinity and one: on Jorge Luis Borges's 'El Inmortal'

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

A logic of 'infinity and one' is found in Borges's short story 'El inmortal'. An infinity of things is possible only because they stand in for a single thing, which can only ever be seen in always different forms. This logic can be seen more specifically in the inseparability of mortality and immortality: we can die only because we are immortal, and we are immortal only because we die. The immortality figured in the story is also that of the story itself. Borges's text is immortal not because it expresses some unchanging human truth but because it is always different from itself. © Modern Humanities Research Association 2012.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)182 - 197
Number of pages16
JournalModern Language Review
Volume107
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes

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