Abstract

This article examines how Jorge Luis Borges articulates a mechanical form of lyricism in the collection of short stories The Aleph, which are characterized by a complex mechanism of rewriting and reproduction that problematizes the concept of the original. This process of fictional reproduction entails the generation of implicit and explicit forms of lyricism. Using Walter Benjamin’s notion of “aura” and Gilles Deleuze’s concept of “orgiastic representation,” this article analyzes how this fictional mechanism destroys the aura of originality of key narrative elements into a potentially infinite series. At the same time, Borges’s lyrical questioning of the original is intrinsically connected to the sense of immortality evoked in his short stories. Ultimately, this article shows the ways in which Borges alters the traditional conceptualization of the lyric as a poetic form into a new fictional version of itself.

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