Reflections on the Jewish Imaginary in the Fictions of Borges

Je ne sais trop comment célébrer ce ruisseau de sang israélite qui coule dans mes veines (J. L. Borges in a letter to his Jewish friend Abramowicz, c. 1920)1 Toda persona occidental es griega y es judía. No se dirá lo mismo de las otras estirpes. (J. L. Borges, “Israel”) y way of introduction I should like to re-phrase a saying by Borges: “The things that are said in literature- or about Borges-are always the same. What is important is the way they are said. ” (Christ 259) There exists a sizeable critical literature concerning the inspiration Bor-ges has found in Judaism which has concentrated primarily in explor-ing and unearthing Jewish sources in Borges and mapping their pres-ence in his work.2 I refer among others to the pioneering work of Jaime 1I am indebted to Prof. Edwin Williamson for generously making available to me