BORGES’S READING OF DANTE AND SWEDENBORG: MYSTICISM AND THE REAL
William Rowlandson
Hay un curioso género literario que independientemente se ha dado en diversas épocas y naciones: la guía del muerto en las regio- nes ultraterrenas. El Cielo y el Infierno de Swedenborg, las escrituras gnósticas, el Bardo Thödol de los tibetanos (título que, según Evans- Wentz, debe traducirse “Liberación por Audición en el Plano de la Posmuerte”) y el Libro egipcio de los Muertos no agotan los ejemplos posibles. Las simpatías y diferencias de los dos últimos han merecido la atención de los eruditos; bástenos aquí repetir que para el manual tibetano el otro mundo es tan ilusorio como éste y para el egipcio es real y objetivo.
Jorge Luis Borges, El libro de los seres imaginarios
manuel Swedenborg writes at the beginning of his book Heaven and EHell (1758): “it has been granted me to be with angels and to talk with them person to person. I have also been enabled to see what is in heaven and in hell, a process that has been going on for thirteen years” (§2). He writes later in the work: “I have been allowed to talk with some people who lived more than two thousand years ago, people whose lives are de- scribed in history books and are therefore familiar” (§480). He repeatedly claims that “I can bear witness from all my experiences of what happens in heaven and in hell” (§482), and begins many paragraphs with state- ments such as “Angels have told me that…” (§184, 222, 302, 310, 480). The reader of today, just as the contemporary reader of Swedenborg such
Variaciones Borges 32 » 2011 William Rowlandson 60 “¿qué son prodigios las deWells odePoe […]confrontados con inven la However, hisreading of in theill-defined tradition of mystical writing, quiry in whichquiry in he asserts that Dante’s visions were purely aesthetic, purely can be summed up in threecan besummedupin statements. Borges’s leadtotheera writings complex andattimesparadoxical criteria thatBorges employs hisas in ción deDios?[…]¿Quiéneselunicornio ante Trinidad?” la ( visions with anoddrigor toacategorical assessment of real versus fictional, fan when evaluating mysticism andmystical vision. Similarly, for Borges orig and theontological dimension of suchexperiences. Borges read Sweden as Kant, isimmediately presented withquestions of thenature of thereal, artistic, and did not hail from genuine experience, while Swedenborg’s and theangelic denizens therein. Hepursues, aswe shall see, of en aline ately aboutDante andaboutSwedenborg, bothof whom depicted Heaven Furthermore, hefamously equates metaphysics withthefantastic, claim Borges appears tobetray for thisdisdain genre distinction, andadheres sure of fact andfiction; however, Borges himself retreatsinto the very real sessment of opposition theauthentic in to the imaginal. My hypotheses sionary writers andhiscritical response tothem, andwill evaluate the says thatthejoy of literature istheappeal to theimagination, thathistory sence thescholarship. in Hisreading of Swedenborg alsopresents some strong presence of Swedenborg Borges’s in work constitutes a curious ab tastic versus genuine, authentic versus inauthentic. Borges wrote passion realism andfantasy, countless in declaring interviews, prologues andes the fantastic. ity isitself anaesthetic judgment based upon hisown iconoclasm and relationin tomystical vision. Lastly, hisassessment of putative authentic isnotprized.inality He does, however, place great emphasison originality ist-fantasy division his fictions that he andwas essays to dispel in at pains ing, for example, areview in of theEnglish theologian LeslieWeatherhead: is memoryandthataliterary experience isasreal asanyotherexperience. mistrust of doctrine.mistrust This isthetouchstone for hisemphatic distinction. perplexing questions concerning therelationship between thereal and borg throughout hislife, andwrote extensively abouthim; the indeed In thisarticle Iwill appraise Borges’s admiration abiding of bothvi Borges, asiswell documented, subverts genre between distinctions were genuine, authentic andexperiential. OC 1: 280). ------1 gues Borges elsewhere, Dante wrote verse, in and there is no possible way grace of the divine), it was voluntary. Secondly, Dante was not a visionary Coleridge fe quela poética esunavoluntaria increduli suspensióndela que loata: élnopudohaberexperimentado elverso” ( que se trata de una ficción literaria. No podemos creer realmente que todo dad” ( dad” dad de leer la darnos, esentregarnos aunextraño ascetismo. ¿Por quénegarnos felici la within establishedwithin theological andartistic frameworks. Furthermore, ar firmation thatDante was notavisionary, butthathe appreciation of Dante, andwhile Borges scholarship hasapproached nu something moresomething ethereal. Avision asprolonged as Borges explains: “No creo queDante fuera unvisionario. Unavisiónes and hisdream of purgatory, (Barnstone 95); things” hewas imagining andhewrites in lo querelata se refiere aunavivencia personal. Además, ahíestáel verseo una descripción delInfierno, del Purgatorio ydel Paraíso, entendemos unsustainable. Thirdly, Dante was notavisionary because thevision it lecturelaudatory in such an aesthetic language. “En el caso de Dante, que también nos ofrece self was by poetic inspired faith, and was therefore culturally conditioned us in his narrativeus in thatatthirty-five ( He tells Willis Barnstone: “Itisvery cleartome thatwhen Dante hadhisdream of hell would itself, beathemein avery interesting one (Alifano 95). which shouldbepursued” fue voluntaria: debemosabandonarnos aella yleerla, con fe poética. Dijo that hecould have experienced thevarious circles of the ings of Danteings hasbeen curiously overlooked. This isBorges’s stridentaf think thathisvision wasthink voluntary. Hisvision was theresult of hispoetic faith to him. Idon’t believe thatDante was avisionary; more avision issomething fleeting, the last ofthe last the mystical sense, because, ratherspontaneous thanbeing andunbidden(i.e. merous elements, one central feature prevalent mostof Borges’s in writ mos leer. No hacerlo esprivarnos delmejordon literatura quela puede hecho humildísimo: escena la hasido breve. Es imposible una visión tan larga como de la la because of thelengthof thisvision, which, Borges maintains, would be This affirmation is reiterated elsewhere. He tells Roberto Alifano: Firstly, therefore, Borges asserts thatthevision was the notavision in Borges’s manifest love for Dante’s OC 3: 211). Nueve ensayosdantescos Comedia 1 Siete noches ?” ( OC 3: 217). There is much to say about Borges’s : “Retengamos unhecho incontrovertible, un solo Nel mezzo delcammin dinostra vita : “La imaginada Comedia Divine Comedy porDante” ( The DivineComedy esunlibro quetodosdebe OC iscrystallized his in was OC 3: 372). Comedia Divine Comedy avisionary poet. 4: 202). “Dante reveals to ) avision comes isimpossible. I . La visión — but that in in ------
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 61 William Rowlandson 62 “Testimony thehomonymous volume totheInvisible” in of essays edited byJames F. 3 2 The de lo invisible Library prólogo deprólogos ( vita / mi ritrovai per una selva oscura el Rojo” (4: 152). Significantly, Borges that theliteral maintains of reading experience of aman“que recorrió este mundoylosotros, lúcidoylabo experiences of Swedenborg, which andin heemphasizes precisely theop emerge when assessing Borges’s discussion of Swedenborg. a literary fiction, apoetic text, an also betray astultifyingcredulity on behalfof thereader. To illustrate this, appreciate theallegorical, moral andmystical levels of meaning. however, are wholly free from artifice, thedirect being account of genuine anagogical), testifies tothisartifice. The mystical works of Swedenborg, mitad deunaselva oscura’ quepuedeser alegórica, pero cual enla creemos físicamente” Eliot Weinberger’s English translation of thisprologue/essay appears in fantasyin all andfiction their guises. However, complications to begin the fact thatDantemodesof reading outlines (literal, allegorical, moral, the rioso. […]ese escandinavo sanguíneo, quefue muchomáslejosqueÉrico ing passagesing which in Borges affirmstheauthentic, non-fictive, genuine to aSpanishedition of Lawrence (1995). not seem too problematic, itattunes indeed perfectly toBorges’s love of posite of what aboutDante, hemaintains thatSwedenborg biographical essay on Swedenborg. OC Aside, however, from couplet theopening of thecycle: “ Borges’s 3: 211). The mostextensive appraisal of Swedenborg Borges’s in works ishis The whole poetic cycle isthus, for Borges, resolutely andbeautifully Divine Comedy Divine Comedy 449-57. cuatro yqueelliteral modosdistintos noesmásqueUnodeellos […] En una epístola famosaEn unaepístola dirigida aCangrande Della Scala, Dante Aligh Pasajes como terrenos deSwedenborg. ( topográfica, realizada porelarte. Nada másdiverso ultra delosdestinos ieri advierte quesu (1982) 1972 The original prologue is also found the section in ( essay OC , translated English byRichard into Howard andCesar Rennert as would impoverish thetext, asthereader would fail to Lasciate ognisperanza, voich’entrate , heasserts, of artistic isthepinnacle expression, and 4: 152-160), entitled, “Emmanuel Swedenborg: “Swedenborg, testigo was deloinvisible” publishedasprologue The EssentialSwedenborg Comedia . OC Es decir, alostreinta ycinco años‘me encontré en , como Sagrada la Escritura, puedeleerse de 4: 156) artifice 2 This text highly aboundsin reveal . At face value thisassertion does bySig Synnestvedt: Nel mezzo del cammin dinostra fortalecen esaconvicción Swedenborg, testigo was Mystical Works Prólogos, con un avisionary. 3 Itwould The Total ”. ”. - - - - - 4 William withveracity” him“insipid andHenry)labels (qtd. Johnson in 2003), which ( 5 devoid of thewhole apparatus of poetic expression” (Emerson 54). This isthenfurther correspondía asuimaginación. Yo creo queDante nocreía, alescribirelpoema, haber emphasis?” (qtd. Johnson in 2003). de la vagade la yfogosa hipérbole” ( diferencia deotros místicos, prescindió metáfora, dela exaltación de la y cause, for Borges, Swedenborg’s were writings thegenuine expression of como un artificio exigidola escolástica por la y por forma de su poema” experience, andwere notwritten withanyattempt atparable, symbolor of analmostmimetic reproduction of hisvisionary experiences. allegory. Heemphasizes Swedenborg’s dryandmeticulous prose Latin as aguardan agonía despuésdela noserán verosímilmente losnueve círcu sensible losestados deánimodelpecador, delpenitente ydeljusto” ( Borges makes reference on more thanone occasion totheobservation that a manwithoutegotism, withoutdrama, withoutasense of thepicturesque, andwho meanwhile, calls “stilted hiswriting andvoluminous” (54). Borges is part of along los infernales, terrazas las delPurgatorio oloscielosconcéntricos. Dante, such astudiousandprosaic language, suggesting thatitwas theproduct duda,sin habríaestado deacuerdo con él; ideósutopografía muerte dela wrote adrylanguage, lacking fire andemotion” ( Infierno, el Purgatorio oel Paraíso —vamos asuponer queletocóla última región— no the works of Swedenborg anymanner in tered after death.“Paul Claudel haobservado quelosespectáculos quenos the Heaven of Dante would correspond tonoheaven putatively encoun tradition of critical reception of Swedenborg’s language. iterated William in James: “Butwhy shouldhebesoprolix andsotoneless—so without hisfriendEmerson’sis echoedin comments thatSwedenborg “ hecho otra cosa haberencontrado sino símbolos adecuados para expresar deunmodo ha dicho Flaubert diciendo queDante almorirdebehaberse asombrado alver queel being whollybeing free from flowery literary technique, especially metaphor: “A OC Borges also derives this observation from Flaubert: “Por eso me parece justo lo que The literary styleof Swedenborg intrigues hisreaders. HenryJames Sr. (father of 3: 342). del saborcafé, esporqueya lohemosprobado, delcolor sinoshablan sufíes delIslam se vieronsufíes obligados arecurrir aanalogías prodigiosas, a experiencia compartida, queel vocablo de la es el símbolo. Si noshablan La explicación esobvia. Elempleodecualquier vocablo presupone una amarillo, esporqueya hemosvistolimones, oro, trigo ypuestas delsol. Para sugerir unióndelalmahombre inefable la con divinidad, la los 4 Onthecontrary, hemaintains, itwould bedifficult to read W. B. Yeats comments: “Andall thishappened to OC 4: 154). “Swedenborg” other than 5 Heexamines theobjective of
the literal 299). Kathleen Raine, Borges profesor remained entirely . This isbe 193). - - -
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 63 William Rowlandson 64 drive of Swedenborg—the very qualitiesthathad furnished hisabilities consequently were unadulterated by religious dogma. Similarly, Borges emphatically defends Swedenborg against the reader’s incredulity, stress 6 already established hisfantastical nature? To address thisquestion, itis he seek todefend Swedenborg (andhimself) againstthecharge of “la and create métodopersonal para “un fijarlas longitudes yuntratado so Borges maintains, were subjecttothesame degree of rational scrutiny Borges admires theintellectual capacity, determinismandexploratory dicas páginas, querepresentan decasi unalabor treinta añosyque deberíamos asuplumatenaz ulterior la redacción demilesmetó and hisvisionary journals: “Heconsidered heaven andhell and God, theangels, the liberada impostura dequienhaescritoesascosas extrañas whole of man, destiny asifhewere sitting before alarge table aGovernment in office feature of Borges’s admiration of Swedenborg. Who, we may ask, isthis to proselytize, because, Borges asserts, “ that Swedenborg employed hisassessment in of thenatural world, and to write tablesandmetallurgy, of mining design aircraft andsubmarines, reader thatBorges sostridentlyconceptualizes andanswers? Why would interlocutores acepten” la if, having Swedenborg included in that anyof theargumentsing commonly employed todiscredit Sweden nada tienenquever con elfrenesí no persuadenanadieyquebasta enunciar unaverdad para quelos ments convince nobody in drawers”in ( putting little pieces of mineralore small into square boxes for anassistant topack away borg—deceit ormadness—are invalid. Swedenborg was notattempting bre eldiámetro luna” dela ( Yeats stylebetween alsonotes in thesimilarity Swedenborg’s scientificjournals decirlo? a imaginar, ínfimahondura la delInfierno, Milton de noshabla alma arrebatada yenajenada, puntualdescripción la deregiones sino ul registra reinos desconocidos. traterrenas, pero precisas. Con elfindequeimaginemos, oempecemos renunciar atales artificios retóricos porquesu tema noera eléxtasis del imágenes derosas, deembriaguez odeamor carnal; Swedenborg pudo but rather darkness visible “Swedenborg” — las eventuales las prolijidades delexplorador odel geógrafo que )
299). y deWalt Whitman, creía quelosargumentos ( OC OC ; Swedenborg prefiere el rigor y 4: 153). 4: 155). Hadhebeen mad, heargues, “ ( OC El libro delos seres imaginarios, ” ( 4: 154) 6 These accounts of Heaven andHell, OC [a] la manera[a] la deEmerson ( 4: 155). Herein liesapuzzling — ” ( ¿por quéno OC hehad No light, 4: 154) Argu no de ------158). (Barnstone 96). Borges’s relationship toimagination, tofantasy andto gies of theEast, butlong forgotten the West in withitspreoccupation with Gnostic writings, theVedas, in otherspiritually profound andin cosmolo 7 Corbin andJung. Kathleen Raine, indeed, whose essay appears alongside dreamworld, andtheaesthetic. cussed themajority of in hisinterviews, andisillustrated somanyof in value, this should notimpoverish theaesthetic asmere elegance orliter wisdom: “The ultimate knowledge, according toBlake andSwedenborg, first necessary toqualifythestatement madeearlierthatthedistinction externality” 62). (Raine inin the his persistence calm beliefemplified of literature: “I don’t think or “imaginative energy,” which pathtothedivine, isthetrue orCorbin’s of life pitted asbeing againstliterature. Ibelieve thatartisapartof life” asimismo afirmaráinteligencia quenobastanla la y la rectitud yque ary finery. Inthe work of Borges theaesthetic—as related to as writer orreader. his tales. Yet toapproach thedreamworld epistemologically isanintrigu Borges places a strong epistemological value to the imagination, the mundus imaginalis Borges’s Lawrence’s in salvación delhombre exige untercer requisito: ser unartista the dreamworld isperhaps themoststriking feature of hispoetics, isdis index of aesthetic brilliance, elegant typified bySchopenhauer’s philoso apathwayimagination—is toknowledge. Like Lezama Lima’s vision of is thattheuniverse iscontained view mind—a tobefound the in alsoin endeavoring which reveals Borges’s kinship with, amongst others, Blake, nor simplythesonorous play of words. Arguments themselves can bethe miration of philosophical andtheological discourses lay theiraesthetic in phy. Borges professes anadmiration for Blake, that “ emphasizing poetry, which in there isa between fact andfiction, reality andimagination, isnotpresentin Borges See Mualem. While we may assert, asBorges repeatedly doeshimself, thathisad Such asentiment isstrikingly akin toBorges’s own , which in thesecret nature of thedivine isrevealed, Testimony totheInvisible gnosis 7 The aesthetic isneither simplylinguistic in the aesthetic, in orBlake’s “Imagination” , emphasizes thispathof ars poetica poesis ” ( Blake OC and , ex 4: 4: ------
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 65 William Rowlandson 66 “This world of is the worldthe Imagination of Eternity; it is the divine This World of isInfinite Imagination andEternal, whereas the world of El libro dearena Generation, orVegetation, isFinite & Temporal” (qtd. 70). Raine in Innu Chuang Tzu. Most well known are themultiple layers of dream creation dreaming andartistic-poetic-creativity are aspectsof thesame process: dreamer knowledge of further dimensions, landscapes andtimes. Borges with theeternal, withthespace-time thediscarnate soulenters after death: ent in Borges.ent in Ifhehasdreamt one upthenhe fiction and reality, historyandmyth, fact andartifice, are hazy: “Isuppose often alludes tothepoetic question of Coleridge’s flower retrieved from stone 117), or, toborrow anexpression from Lezama Lima: “nohay nada so clearfrom areading of anyof Borges’s work, between thedistinctions los éxtasis deChesterton odeJohn Bunyan. No he jante revelación, pero heprocurado soñarla” ( there is no difference between fact and fiction […] What isthe pastbut all the dreamworld, andhecontemplates whether ChuangTzu experienced revelation. Upon what could principles bebased, adistinction ifwe judge imagination tobeitselfimagination experiential? Borges repeatedly emphasizes that if we follow thevery fluidity of fact and fiction, realityand fantasy, pres is problematic. Borges discusses thetale “ElCongreso” in epistemologically,imagination thequestion of authenticity of experience circulares.” “Las ruinas in Itis therefore striking tonote thatSweden más real imaginación” quela (133). Furthermore, andconsidering the memory? What isthepastbutmemoriesthathave become myth?”(Barn merable passages from Borges testify tothepower of dreams togrant the borg’s theheavenly into initiation realm lay his troubled in dreams. As is abutterflybeing in hisdream or whether thebutterfly experienced being whichbosom into we shall all go after thedeathof theVegetated body. Blake, itshouldberemembered, explicitly equatedworld theimaginal The essential difference between thewaking experience andthesleeping or dreaming experience thefact thatthedreaming mustliein experience you …notnecessarily sleep. in When you’re thinking outapoem, there is is something thatcan bebegottenis something byyou, created byyou, evolved outof no? Andsothey stand for the same thing. Ifyou’re thinking, ifyou’re in little difference between thefact asleep of being awake, andthatof being , suggesting that“el finquiere elevarse, dudaen sin vano, a OC has 3: 72). This isparadoxical been worthy of sucha merecido nunca seme the afterword to ------“Tlön, Uqbar, OrbisTertius.” Itwould beastep arigid into pattern binary Surely one sensations of themostabiding delivered tothereader of versation between these two. Bothare fantastic, bothare textual, bothare fiction, and yet the experience of fiction is tangibleand real. Why, there erature, poetryandmetaphysics. Oneconversation could berecorded by epistemologically nodifferent. Hedeclares toRichard Burgin: experience of travelling. That istosay, thetextual andthemeta-textual are event of andone theimagination of empirical experience? Borges, for ex ences of Swedenborg andthe order toaddress thisquestion, itisimportant tofocus on Borges’s assess of thinkingtoattempt todistinguish between afactual andafictional con ample, makes between nodistinction theexperience of reading andthe Borges arecollection; in anothercould berecorded of atthebeginning Bioy Casares andBorges together dined regularly, while discussing lit should beless real thantoday’s newspaper” (85). evident, Itisabidingly fore, does Borges draw between suchafirmdistinction the factual andfictional atthesame time. “Idon’t see howcan beun things therefore, thatwe really are noposition tojudge in sofirmlybetween an theological, philosophical, or political—experience is experience whether tem hewas contemplating—whether fantastical, poetical, mythological, therefore, all that in matters of human expression, whichever and in sys real,” Borges opined. “Idon’t see anyvalid reason why Hamlet, for exam it derives from physical travel. orimaginal Memory iscreative andthusa is thatreality isfictional andfiction is real. at Ishenotdeclaring every stage, ple, shouldbeless real thanLloyd George” (Burgin 77), “or why Macbeth venting, orifyou’re dreaming, thenthedream may correspond tovision side, you have life andthatmeansthearts. imaginary andfancy ButIdon’t London through Dickens andthrough Chesterton andthrough Stevenson, or tosleep. That hardly matters. (Barnstone 29) as real experiences tomeasseeing London, for example. Ofcourse, Isaw I think of readingI think abook asnoless anexperience thantraveling orfalling think that that distinction holds water. thatdistinction think thateverything Ithink isapartof toothache, headache, traveling andsoon, andthenyou have on theother in love.in that reading Berkeley Ithink orShaw orEmerson, those are quite no? Many peopleare aptof real tothink life on theone side, thatmeans life. (Burgin 14) unreal or fictional experiences of Dante? In real Borges experi ------
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 67 William Rowlandson 68 “Parménides, Platón, JuanEscoto Erígena, Magno, Alberto Spinoza, Leib A beautiful conundrum isthusestablished. Heaven andHell derive from 1873. I’ve not been able to locate this source. It might well be one of their many invented 1955). As itis, heandBioy Casares abrieftext include from “The False Swedenborg” of Weatherhead for a mediocre being and almost non-existent writer, for credentials, compares the fantastic with the religious, mocking the theo wholly unappealing metaphysical vision, butis, furthermore, inauthen on thepresence thatBorges of doctrine could perceive over looming them. yet all thewhile proclaimingthe logical discourse thatWeatherhead presents: literature, andhisguilty omission of themasters of thefantastic genre: status betrays anaesthetic poverty thatisnotonly clearlyindicative of a ture. Here heembellishes thiswithamention of hisown book of fantastic tor of “Tlön,” thatmetaphysics isbutanotherbranch of fantastic litera tic, derivative, and, importantly, non-experiential. of At his the beginning including Swedenborg’sincluding angels anddevils in imagination, andyet they are nevertheless real. Herein liehismotives for “conjeturasing semiteosóficas” ( texts. niz, Kant, Francis Bradley” (1: 280). Hethen, as if toconfirm hisagnostic ment of otherwriters of mystical vision andeschatology, particular, andin in his in pugnacious review, Borges reasserts the famous declaration of the narra 8 being “estimulado por lecturasbeing and for piadosas” making unconvinc One might assume that Borges could well have a passage included from Swedenborg Borges reviewed LeslieWeatherhead’s (1: 280) gumento deBerkeley? Hevenerado gradual la invención deDios; también que nosllega delporvenir, hipnosis unmuertosometidoala ���������� del Gran Vehículo, quéson nochesdeShahrazad todaslas juntoaunar son admirables ycuriosos designios delos hombres. imaginación dela el Infierno y el Cielo (una remuneracióninmortal, un castigoinmortal) algún modo es tres y que solitariamente perdura En efecto, ¿quéson losprodigios deWells odeEdgar Allan Poe tados con invención deDios, la con teoría la deunser laboriosa quede la Trinidad,la quiénesLucio Apuleyo ante losmultiplicadores deBuddhas piedra bezoarla ante armonía la preestablecida, quiéneselunicornio ante Extraordinary Tales (1967, firstpublishedas OC authenticity 1: 281). Weatherhead’s poor writing Cuentos breves y extraordinarios After Death El libro delos seres imaginarios of Swedenborg’s visions. fuera deltiempo? , andhedamns —��������� — confron ¿Qué es una flor in in 8 ------
InSpanish, itisin 10 seres imaginarios 9 How of Jung: “I’ve always been agreat reader of Jung”(Burgin, It isinteresting tonote thatall themonsters thispassage hementions in Jung’s example, are one more creation of the imagination, but whose persistence ever futile itmay be–toseparate anempirical angel somehow extrinsic to operational, asitwere, extrinsic totheindividual. a strikingly Jungianapproach toangels, thatthey in theparlorof Borges’shung in apartment on Maipú [Burgin 100]), andal Norah, apainterwhose impact on Borges’s career writing hasnow been fromhuman imagination anintrinsic, imaginative angel? Borges’s sister, makes reference “Nathaniel Hawthorne” toJungin ( later appear in less dimensions, beyond thecontrol of theindividual ego, andtherefore legedly conversations maintained withangels asachild. Borges develops fairly deeply studied, paintedangels (indeed, one of her angel paintings ticular substance of Jung’sarchetypal beings, thatthey in belong tothe tus. A1926essay entitled“AHistoryof Angels” describesthisperspective. in the human imagination grants the human imagination in them some undefined ontological sta imagination, butthatconsequently they is, ultimately, irrelevant. Itmustalsobenoted thatBorges was asympathetic reader psyche, butthattherealm of thepsyche extends transpersonal, into time Philemon, for example, was and“imaginative” both“real” for Jung. The distinction InSpanish, itisin real Today, whatof poetrywould line dare allude to the phoenix ormake itself Here we arrive atthenearmiracle motive thatisthetrue for thiswriting: quiet momentwhenare things gradually leftalone, withtheirbacks tothe what we might call thesurvival of theangel. The has humanimagination sunset, andwhen colors are like memoriesorpremonitions of othercol ors. We must not be too prodigal with our angels; they are divini the last unhappy tobe anestof angels brightly andtoshine withthem. Ialways unicorns, devils, dragons, werewolves, cyclops, fauns, basilisks, demigods, ties we harbour, andthey might fly away. ( the promenade of acentaur? None; butnopoetry, however modern, is imagine thematnightfall,imagine theduskof aslum oravacant in lot, that long, in leviathans, andalegion of others)andall have disappeared, except angels. pictured ahorde of monsters (tritons, hippogriffs, chimeras, sea serpents, Psychologie undalchemie are theangels, andcan we detectBorges in anyattempt–how . El libro delos seres imaginarios El tamañodemiesperanza in “Kafka in ysusprecursores” (2: 88)andin . are , yet heawards adifferent de The Total Library real. They develop thepar Otras inquisiciones 9 Conversations For Borges, angels, for are creatures of the 19) 2: 62), andto 109). Healso El libro delos 10 ------
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 69 William Rowlandson 70 “La nadería de la personalidad” (“The personalidad” “La naderíadela nothingness of thepersonality”, “En la entrevista “Enla con Carlos Cortínez encontramos, pordesgracia, muy sintetizada, 11 Total Library gree of compassion toangels, derived perhaps from hissister’srelation Christ? Yeats, for example, attributes a strong cultural influence upon Swe Christian mystics might encounter, butthatsheinterpreted thispower as del relato desumadre. Enunadeesas, molestarse ella sin pero con superioridaddel la creyente lohizo callar: contó un sueño que ella tuvo cuando murió su padre: él se le acercaba, muy fatigado, y denborg’s own appreciation of theangelic realm: “Swedenborg because he derides Weatherhead’s on the assumption thattheformer’s are genuine while thelatter’s are merely conforming todogmatic theology. Borges’s even of thetreasured adistrust manifesting in dreamworld, when Borges’s her of theexistence of God. assertion of authenticity is itself a clear reflection of his own “free-think a Borges desconfiarla de seriedad delossueños, para nodejarse convencerla belleza por aquella famosa conversación quetuvieron Borges con sumadre acerca deDios. ‘No Entonces ella me declaró sufe con unasimplicidad no exenta dedramatismo... me such imaginary beings tobemore beings realsuch imaginary thansimpleillusions and, further ship withthem. The hard-lined Kantian logic present the1922essay in feels horror amid rocky uninhabitedplaces, andsobelieves thattheevil are to theindividual orare they universal? Are experiences exceptional orcul regularly thenebulousscholarship of mysticism: in are experiences unique the clearsunlight of Claude Lorraine” ( ter Christ, ordidsheencounter thesame “source” or“power”thatnon- turally conditioned? Or, adifferent putin way, didTeresa encoun deÁvila in suchplacesin while thegood are amid smooth grass andgarden walks and (bothterms or “agnostic” whiching” heregularly employs) position. His imagination, yet unlike Kant, thisapproach would nevertheless permit fue porsuhijoqueoponía interrumpido razones desuescepticismo. Era paradójico oír recuerdo cómo conversación la derivó hacia creencias las religiosas decada cual. mother claims thatherdeadfathermother claims had returned a dream to her in to assure was of Christiandoctrine suchthatCarlosmistrust Cortínez observes it more, tobeworthy of philosophical speculation. le aseguraba, deunmodoquenohapodidoolvidar, queDiosexiste ... Dosotres veces belongs toaneighteenth century notyet touchedbytheromantic revival borg, andopens(thoughdoesnotexplore) athornyquestion thatarises And yet theparadox deeper: runs hepraises Swedenborg’s visions yet “En la entrevista “Enla con Carlos Cortínez encontramos, pordesgracia, muy sintetizada, 3-10), appears tobeabledismiss angels ascreatures of the — ¡Deja Georgie, enestas túnopiensas cosas...!’” 11 Heunpicks thenature of vision of Sweden Visions 303), that andhemaintains (Romero 492). The ------“ This is, indeed, apervasive question. Robert Moss suggests thatSwedenborg’s 13 12 204). He also at one stage calls Blake “ chief obstacle to themodernunderstanding of Swedenborg isthatfew of uscan take claiming: “Laobra deBlake esunaobra delectura extraordinariamente difícil, ya que could notfind one tohishand. Hadhebeen a Catholic of Dante’s timehe would have on themodernage” (100). diated asidefrom a few bydoctrine in infelicitous momentsanddespite doctrine. clude thatthose gifted withtheclearvision world of theimaginal are es in about theSpanishmystics, andabout hisown mystical experiences: al marco delosdosTestamentos” ( stone 26), andhe Blake’s mythologies outlandish derived from theab mitología sobre cuyo sentido noestándeacuerdo loscomentadores” ( Previously, hisreligious faith hadconvinced survives himthatthespirit physical death. sential agreement becausethesame reality” describing 67). (Raine Borges Blake habíacreado unsistema teológico, pero para exponerlo, se leocurrió inventar una Borges, it mustberecalled, was often reserved aboutBlake’s complex mythologies, works of Shakespeare orDante, nodoubthisideaswould have expressed themselves in was abishop; hehadstudiedtheBible since childhood. Itwas, therefore, natural that would have taken hissymbolswhere Wagner took his, from Norse mythology” (174). the aesthetic power of Swedenborg lay anauthentic experience in unme its Christianclothing, whereas the “mediocre” Weatherhead simplyre influence of Swedenborg on Blake:“it may bethat we alsohave to con the dead]alsogave himafirsthandunderstanding of the conditions of theafterlife. religious upbringing the Biblefor granted theway in thatourgreat-grandfathers did. This isasadreflection the form of gigantic commentaries on Shakespeare’s tragedies or the his visions expressed themselves terms in of theBible. If hehadbeen brought upon the Now hecould tostudy begin produced established dogma. fashion, In asimilar Borges Barnstone asks propia yquecometió unincómodo error cuando resolvió ajustar susideas line similar tothatof similar Yeatsline andBorges: “[Swedenborg] lived areligious in age; hisfather brushes asidetheimplicationsbrushes mystical of specificdoctrinal experiences: been well content withMary andtheangels; orhadhebeen of ascholar ourtimehe Swedenborg, como Spinoza oFrancis Bacon, fue unpensadorporcuenta This is, indeed, apervasive question. Robert Moss suggests thatSwedenborg’s “Hewas amancryingoutfor amythology, andtryingto make one because he BARNSTONE: You have been interested themystics. in BORGES: I’ve done mybest, butIam very ignorant. BARNSTONE: You’ve of been theGnostics, thewritings immersed in the mystics, theKabbalah, in the 12 Raine addresses Raine thisperennial question when considering the states that one would need adictionary of Blake tounderstand Blake. was contributory towards hisvisions: “These encounters [with how itsurvives” (188). Colin Wilson, meanwhile, pursuesa Book of Splendor Book of ������������������������������������������� generally and ponderous” long-winded (Barn OC 4: 155). 13 .
Quite clearly, for Borges, sence of established
Divine Comedy Borges profesor . The - - - - -
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 71 William Rowlandson 72 Again, his dismissal Spaniards” of his sense “the lies in of theirdoctri cal experience was merely parroting “conjeturas semiteosóficas” (1: 281). Borges’s own edly uninspired bytextualedly uninspired sources, andconsequently inexpressible. Here articulation of afew perennial symbols, nevertheless for Borges themysti and while herepeatedly thatall maintains great literature ismerely there- lies thenub of theparadox. While we are all theproducts of ourinfluences, shine withauthenticity.shine Itismyhypothesis of authentic thatthisopinion the pattern of theSong of thesame Songs”fashion in thatWeatherhead Weatherhead.that hedoesin John of theCross was merely “following ity isasmokescreen, andthatwhat really isat stake isnot a metaphysical mystical experiences, ashedescribes, were uniqueandpersonal, purport nevertheless perceives thesame sense of of inauthenticity experience nal adherence. While Borges admires John of theCross’s poetic craft, he die. (Barnstone 10-11) should say not. When Italk of mystics, of Swedenborg, Ithink Angelus Silesius, andthePersians also. Not theSpaniards. Idon’t they think had experience. Inmylife Ionly hadtwo mystical experiences andIcan’t tell over, andmaybe itwill begranted metohave itone more timebefore I of theSong of Songs. Andthat’sthat. Isuppose henever hadanyactual you can’t share it—asifyou were totalk aboutthetaste of coffee andhad able thanotherwise. Itwas astonishing, astounding. Iwas overwhelmed, all, stand for ashared experience. Andifyou have nothadtheexperience any mystical experiences. BORGES: thatSaintJohn of Ithink theCross was following thepattern BARNSTONE: John of theCross? BORGES: Iwonder ifFray Luis deLeónhadanymystical experience. I BARNSTONE: thatyou Iimagine would consider thevoyage of the BORGES: At thesame timeIam nomystic myself. I cannot retell ittomyself, butIhadthatexperience, andIhadittwice feeling came over methatIwas living beyond time, andIdidmybest to capture it, butitcame andwent. Iwrote poemsaboutit, butthey are taken aback. Ihadthefeeling of timebutoutsidetime. living notin It them because what happened words, isnottobeputin since words, after normal poemsanddonottell theexperience. Icannot tell ittoyou, since may have been aminute orso, itmay have been longer… Somehow the never triedcoffee. Twice mylife in Ihadafeeling, afeeling rather agree mystical experience otherwriting, in Fray in Luis deLeón… mystics experience atrue butasecular one. Could you comment on the by necessity mustbesomehow free ofin order influence to
- - - - - 16 Recall theoft-quoted statement of thenarrator of Tlön: “Hace diezañosbastaba 15 14 cualquier simetríacon apariencia deorden Nueve ensayosdantescos erroneous beliefs. Onthecontrary, it’smydutytopersecute them” (Burgin, el nazismo ordenada” ( declares love thathisabiding for Dante andfor the dividual will andcreative liberty. Political merely doctrine entertains peo conversely, hissubtleheterodox, in even heretical, dimensions. Inthe work” (Barnstone 111). Theological doctrine, especially ifallied toblind ontology of angelic beings. Rather, itisBorges’s inveterate iconoclasm, acts of brutality. heresiarchs. of doctrine,his mistrust andhislove of heterodoxy, heretics, heresy and Borges any reason for themtobetolerant. IfIbelieve possession Iam in there of thetruth is no reason for metobetolerant of those who are risking theirown salvation byholding los personajes […]susdestinos, pero todoelconcepto religioso, ideade la sado en judgment about the true substancejudgment aboutthetrue andstructure of Heaven, norof the from itsaesthetics faith, naturally andreasonably, leadstogreat intolerance. tigates are common toexegetic commentaries on the the pressure adherence of doctrinal thathe risked branded being aheretic. 144).tino into imaginal landscapes imaginal ofinto heavens and hells and was so untouched by ignorant. y vasta evidencia deunplaneta ordenado? many facets tothisreading of Dante, andmanyareas thatBorges inves pushes theboundariesof orthodoxy degree. toanalarming There are premios ydecastigos, esunaideaquenoheentendido nunca” (Sorren ple, or, thecase in of JuanDomingo andEvita Perón, only entertains the becomes clearthatacentral of Borges’s thrust veneration for Dante lies, While observing the doctrinal geometryWhile thedoctrinal observing of Dante’s Doctrine, anditsconstellation asdogma, was for Borges adenialof in Recall theoft-quoted statement of thenarrator of Tlön: “Hace diezañosbastaba ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� See “L’Illusion Comique” ( “No church��������������������������������������������������������������������� 73-74). La divinacomedia — 14 OC Swedenborg, conversely Borges’s in view, underwentjourneys In the case of Nazism, its appeal can lead them to outrageous para embelesaraloshombres. ¿Cómo nosometerse aTlön, minuciosa ala 1: 442). —�������������������������������������������������������������������� 15 whether Catholic orProtestant�������������������������������������� Philosophical doctrine, heargues, really “is mere guess in spiteof , Borges elaborates thedegree towhich Dante eselvalor religioso. Borges total thetheology: “Loquemenosmehaintere — Inútil responder realidad quela también está 409-11). el materialismo dialéctico, elantisemitismo, —������������������������������������� has ever been tolerant, noristhere Es decir, mehaninteresado Divine Comedy Comedy Divine Comedy 16 Borges even ; otherareas derives Jorge Luis , it ------
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 73 William Rowlandson 74 “Enamorarse escrear unareligión cuyo diosesfalible. QueDante profesó por 17 This immediately evokes apathetic qualitytothecycle thatbetrays Dante’s que esoshechosson imágenes deotros; ello, aser así, reforzaría aúnmásnuestra dilata enelotro canto. Beatrizdesaparece; unáguila, unazorra yundragón atacan el carro; yeltimónse cubren ruedas las deplumas; elcarro, entonces, echasiete cabezas certidumbre deunamor desdichado ysupersticioso. Dante, muerta Beatriz, perdida era unpájaro yqueera todo pájaro otodoleóncuando losojosdeBeatrizloesperaban ocurrió entonces loquesueleocurrir enlossueños, manchándolodetristes estorbos. ( ( Tal fue elcaso deDante. Negado para siempre porBeatriz, soñó con Beatriz, pero soñó la with Beatrice. earthly, humanlove over thelove of thedivine. are pertinent, soitwould appear, only toBorges. Firstly, Borges identifies severísima, pero soñó la inaccesible, pero soñó la enuncarro tirado porunleónque se burlódeélyotra lodesairó son hechosqueregistra la Beatriz unaadoración idolátrica esunaverdad quenocabe contradecir; queella unavez tion behind Dante’stion behind vast poetic cycle: theunion notwiththegodhead but in almosteveryin passage thathecomposed on Dante theessential motiva lugar deBeatriz” ( para míqueedificóla triple arquitectura desupoemaparaintercalar ese encuentro. Le para siempre Beatriz, jugó con ficción la deencontrarla, para mitigar sutristeza; yo tengo Transformato così’l dificiosanto/ mise fuorteste… Purgatorio “Enamorarse escrear unareligión cuyo dios esfalible. QueDante profesó por Thus Iimplored; andshe, sofar away, También Smiled as itseemed, andlooked once more atme... desvío eterno delrostro. palabras Enlas se trasluce elhorror: se refiere a solo yquizá humillado, escena la imaginó paraqueestaba imaginar con conciencia dequeelencuentro eradeformó visión. imaginario la Deahí en suversión de1867: el empíreo desaparición la deBeatriz, elancianoquetomasulugar, su ella. Desdichadamente para él, felizmente para lossiglos queloleerían, la escena hasido Retengamos unhechoincontrovertible, unsolohechohumildísimo: la muerte lehabíanarrebatado aBeatriz). Ausente para siempre deBeatriz, las circunstanciaslas atroces, tanto másinfernales, claro está, porocurrir en lo fue menos. (Larealidad, para él, era queprimero vidaydespuésla la brusca elevaciónbrusca Rosa, ala fugacidad la sonrisa mirada, dela ydela el XXXI, 121). Tales hechospuedenprefigurar unapesadilla; ésta se fija y se eterna OC lontana 3: 369). parece contaminar a imaginada pero contamina a porDante. Para nosotros, esmuy real; para él,
si tornò sorrise ); un gigante y una ramera usurpan el yasíLongfellow pudotraducir . ( Vita nuova OC 3: 372) . Hay quienmantiene 17 come parea -
“En elcaso deDante, elprocedimiento esmásdelicado. No esexactamente un 19 Healsoreiterates this in 18 3: 216). contraste, aunquetenemos actitud la filial: Dante vienea ser unhijode Virgilio y al comparten elInfiernoyesopara Dante tienequehabersidounasuerte de Paraíso” ( el o que la hamerecido,o quela ya visión. quelehasidodada la Encambio, desdeelcomienzo del deep sadness and regret that Dante experienced acknowledging in their envy andregret thatBorgesin Dante’s identifiesportrayal of thelovers Paola andFrancesco: mismo tiempoessuperioraVirgilio porquese cree salvado. Cree quemerecerá gracia la Infierno sabeque Virgilio esunalmaperdida, un réprobo; cuando Virgilio ledice que that Dante bore for Virgil, andfor Homer, Horace, OvidandLucan, andthe hablarse, giran enelnegro ninguna remolino esperanza, sin nisiquiera nosdice Dante la esperanzala dequelossufrimientoscesen, pero estánjuntos. Cuando ella habla, usa banishment tothe nosotros Thirdly, Borges writes withpassion love of theabiding andrespect Secondly, thisaspectcannot beseparated from theequally pathetic “Enelcaso deDante, el procedimiento es más delicado. No esexactamente un Healsoreiterates thisin (Alifano 97) che maidamenonfiadiviso vation andfull absence; of God’s Dante, on theotherhand, will see God, he will be where thegreat shadows of thegreat menof antiquitydwell, those that since heknows thatheiscondemned tothe“ soñó enelhuracán delsegundo círculo yqueson emblemasoscuros, of Christ[…]Dante salutes himwiththehighest of epithets andspeaks and of theirrelationship which hasalways been constant. ButVirgil issad aunque élnoloentendiera onoloquisiera, deesadicha quenologró. azares desuilusorioencuentro endosamantes ypienso queelAlighieri a discordiaolvidar esa lastimosa para inolvidable Dante. Leo y releo los Pienso enFrancesca yenPaolo, unidospara siempre ensuInfierno( Infinitamente existió Beatrizpara Dante; Dante, muy poco, tal vez nada, Dante feels thatVirgil will always beaninhabitant of that“ Dante knows that Virgil is a damned soul, and the very moment that Virgil the great love andthelong studytowhich Virgil’s have writings ledhim, through unavoidable ignorance did no accept or could not reach the word tells himthathewill notbeabletoaccompany himbeyond purgatory, miración, con envidia. ( para Beatriz; todos nosotros propendemos, porpiedad, porveneración : porlosdos, habla otra forma deestar juntos. Estánjuntospara eternidad, la allowed 19 nobile castello to, andhewill alsobeallowed tounderstand theuniverse. Siete noches OC ...). Con espantosoamor, con ansiedad, con ad 3: 369) . : “esos dosréprobos estánjuntos, nopueden 18 nobile castello ,” far from sal nobile castello Questi, OC ” - -
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 75 William Rowlandson 76 gran amor quelehanhechobuscar suvolumen ysiempre se mantieneesarelación entre ese momento, Dante lo saluda con palabras largomagníficas del y habla estudio ydel In almostallDantesque thenine essays, andin desire tooperate withpoetic, aesthetic and, indeed, metaphysical freedom. Virgildemning totheabsence of God, Dante, Borges’s in eyes, was deeply was tornbetween theneed (anddesire) toadhere toorthodoxy, andthe expressing hisown artistic vision. Hetalks of Dante’s “own invention” of siempre enel muertos de la Antigüedad,muertos dela losqueporignorancia invencible noalcanzaron palabra la de no podrá acompañarlo másallá delPurgatorio, será siente queellatino para siempre Cristo. Enese mismomomento, Dante dice: unsettled athisown god-like status. scribes thetension apparent Dante and in between todoctrine adhering un habitante del terrible the limbofor thepre-Christian elevated souls(theClassical poets): los dos. Esa figura esencialmente triste de Virgilio, que se sabe condenado a habitar para permitido ver aDios, leserá permitidocomprender eluniverso” ( Lastly, Borges acknowledges withgreat respect thatDante himself Fourthly, composing the cycle, in as judgeand thus acting con in —la observación—la pertenece aGuido Vitali— demasiadosobre queinsistir ( gran memoriaromana. Quisohonrarla ensulibro, pero nopudoentender de su poema a adjudicar gloria la perdición, o la que pudieran sin advertir de unDiosqueescada unadesuscriaturasesascriaturas, yeldestino día, contra Fe, la salvar asushéroes; lospensóenunInfiernonegativo, sido acusado. Lanociónpanteísta deun Diosquetambién eseluniverso, cutible ensuaplicación alpoeta yasuobra. Elpoeta escada unodelos el mundo clásico no convenía a sus propósitos doctrinales. Dante no po en elcaso deFilippo Argenti, oeneldeJudas, con decisiones las divinas. es quizá unaherejía yunerror aplicamos sila realidad, ala pero esindis Otra razón, detipo técnico, explica dureza la dequeDante crueldad ha yla Para mitigar el horror deunaépoca adversa, elpoeta buscó refugio enla tareas, másfácil, nola esocultar esaomnipresencia. odisimular Elproble hizo quesusreacciones nocoincidieran, osólocoincidieran alguna vez hombres desumundoficticio, es cada soploy cada pormenor. Unadesus mismo. Para conseguir ese fin,incluyó se como personajela de ma era singularmente arduo enelcaso deDante, obligado porelcarácter los lectores Justicia quela queemitíalosfallos era, enúltimotérmino, él privados vista dela yposesión deDiosenelcielo, yse apiadó desumiste OC 3: 344) nobile castello nobile castello lleno ausencia dela deDios... Encambio, aDante leserá donde grandes están las sombras de los grandes Tu, duca; tu, signore; tu, maestro Siete noches OC 3: 213). , Borges de ... Para cubrir Comedia , e , e ------“Historia de la Eternidad” ( Eternidad” “Historia dela 20 (2: 399), andhisassertion thatall great literature ismerely therepetition of The presence of DanteBorges in hasbeen widelyacknowledged. The pres These central arguments of Borges’s appreciation of Dante reveal asimilar de la infamia conjurados of of non-fiction ( ( due toitsresistance anddogma. todoctrine certain cultural perennial shifting contexts; symbolswithin nevertheless, can see, therefore, thatwhile originality isaqualityrarely prized elsewhere ence of Swedenborg hasnot. Itisstriking, however, tonotice thedepth of for thatweelement of disdain thedoctrinal see manifest hisdismissal in of thevisions of St. John of theCross andof theeschatology of Weather Death head. Beyond thebeauty of thecouplets, Borges’s aesthetic appreciation of studies, others as mere references. sobre (hacia) Bernard Shaw” ( agosto, 1983”( appearances of Swedenborg Borges, in someascritical assessments or biographical Prologue to Dante lay, precisely, thistension in between andoriginality. doctrine We tos mehanhostigado alolargo deltiempo; soy decididamente monótono” influence of Swedenborg’s thoughtupon Borges. mattersin of metaphysics andmysticism, originality isatreasured value Borges,in refutación deltiempo” ( the poem“Emmanuel Swedenborg” ( mission the prologue in to circulares”nition thatthe“Lasruinas isarewriting of “ElGolem,”hisad his bibliography five into sections. For my own part, I have identified the following Otras inquisiciones Atlas El libro delos seres imaginarios Rodríguez Risquete enumerates 95references toDanteBorges’s in work, dividing ), “Sobre Oscar Wilde” ( ” ( Eneida esos campos dichosos […] una serie decircunstancias, alguna deíndoleteológica. Devoto lectordela Infierno asunoble castillo. rioso destino […] En la invención yejecución […]Enla deesterioso destino canto IV Dante urdió Discusión ), the poem “Otro poema de los dones” ( ), “LamemoriadeShakespeare” ( ), “Un dobledeMahoma” ( viz. Xul Solar, Catálogo de obras del Museo , alosmuertosenelElíseo, imaginó oenunavariación medieval de La memoria de Shakespeare his inclusion of hisinclusion otherauthors’stales histales, in hisrecog ), review “Sir William Barrett’s ), “Dosinterpretaciones ( deArthur Rimbaud” Otras inquisiciones Historia dela eternidad Otras inquisiciones Otras inquisiciones , “Elespejodelosenigmas” ( Elinforme deBrodie The list is doubtless incomplete: Urgido porrazones dogmáticas ( OC El otro, el mismo Historia universal de la infamia ), “Unteólogo muerte” enla ( 3: 346-47italics added) La memoriadeShakespeare ), “Laduración ( delinfierno” ), “Sobre el Personality survives death ), “Pascal” ( ), review “LeslieWeatherhead, El otro, elmismo (Borges 1990). that “unos pocos that “unos argumen ), thepoem“Doomsday” ( Vathek 20 Otras inquisiciones Otras inquisiciones This influence isvis deWilliam Beckford” ), four separate tales , debiósituarenel Testigo alo invisible For thefollowing ), “Veinticinco de Historia universal ), “Laprida 1214” Textos cautivos ” ( Total Library Discusión ), “Nueva ), “Nota After Los ), ), ), ), ------,
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 77 William Rowlandson 78 “I also intend to write a book on Swedenborg” (Barnstone 97); and he tells Barnstone: “I 1963), J. W. Dunne(1866-1949). 1637), Jacob Böhme(1575-1624), Angelus Silesius(1624-1677), Emanuel Swedenborg 1316), Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Teresa (1515-1582), de Ávila Robert Fludd (1574- 21 gration of souls. His reading, however, of Plato andotherphilosophersreveals acuriosity universal dela infamia (1803-1882), (1688-1772), William Blake (1757-1827), example, Delia’s lamenting loss, declares: “����������������������������� especially hislater years, in heexpresses afirmwish for annihilation: Macedon (356-323BCE), Siculus Diodorus (1 or annihilation andthepossibility of continuity. Incountless interviews, of thelandscape of death. While againhere isnotthespace toelaborate, it adumbration of Swedenborg’s somanyof visions Borges’s in tales, and about the soul’s persistenceabout thesoul’s after corporeal death, andeven thetransmi Ezekiel (c.622BCE), Plato (428/427-348/347BCE), Christ, Yates, etal Paul (c.5-c.67), would like towrite abook on Swedenborg” (109). the manifest affinity to Swedenborg. There is much toelucidate on this, ing, Borges appears pulled by two polarities: the inevitability of oblivion that is throughoutworth explaining his work, many facets in of his writ ofible notleasttheinclusion extracts of Swedenborg’s texts in mer yreleí, para comprender estas cosas, últimaenseñanza la quePlatón must beaccompanied withanassessment of Borges’s own considerations interviews, please consult bibliography for full details: but itfalls outsideof theremit of thisstudy. Similarly, suchconsiderations Of the ill-defined canon of mystical writers, Borges discussesin different texts: death, thatIwant tostopwaking upevery morning, finding: “Well, here I on andIhave no personal memoryof having ever been Borges, thenin am, Ihave togo back toBorges.” (Barnstone 17) unhappy. For really, I’msick andtired of myself. Now, of course ifIgo I look forward blotted tobeing out. ButifIthoughtthatmydeathwas a things in ahopeful way, in things anexpectant in way. Ishouldsay Iam greedy for that case, itwon’t matter tome; because Imay have been hundreds of odd have forgotten them. When of mortality, Ithink of death, of those Ithink mere illusion, thatafter deathIwould go on, thenIwould feel very, very people before I was born, won’t but those things worry me, since I will Léon Bloy (1846-1917), Alanus de Insulis (also Alain deLille) (1128-1202),Alanus deInsulis (alsoAlain Ramón Llul(1234- . Hetells Miguel Enguídanos atIndianaUniversity March in 1976that 21 The Borges-protagonist of “DeliaElena San Marco”, for and in and in El libro delos seres imaginarios G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), Xul (1887- Solar Novalis (1772-1801), st century BCE), Anoche no salídespuésdeco Alexander theGreat, Alexander of Bourne, Salas, Sábato, Barili, Plotinus (c.204-270), Ralph Waldo Emerson , butthrough the Historia St. - - - “Returning tothequestion of“Returning apersonal god, are you agnostic? Borges: Iam anagnostic. 22 The question of faith here arises. Borges’s position asagnostic isof crucial dependent words. concern for us, anditisimportant tonote thatfor Borges agnosticism was which we have noknowledge, andthusbetrays alimitation of one’s imag firm conviction can be reached. even God, even the Holy Trinity. This world is so strange that anything after death. Swedenborg detail describesin hells andparadises. Dante’s he mustrely on hisreading andhisimagination. Inbothcases, though, no has visited sucharealm. Hisstatement that“Ihave never been worthy of agnostics tomorrow? It’sall (Barnstone thesame 103). thing” larger, amore fantastic kind of world, almostuncanny. Itmakes memore carne”la (2: 168). such anexperience” istheacknowledgment matters thatin metaphysical, Barnstone: No, a tension between “olvido” andafterlife, expressed a mostsuccinctly in ticular doctrine ofticular life doctrine after deathunless, thecase asin of Swedenborg, one tolerant” (qtd. Shenker). in ination. Itwould seem restrictive, hemaintains, tolimitoneself toapar to thenuminous:ing anagnostic meansallare “Being things possible, may happen, or may nothappen. anagnostic makes Being melive a in not apathy matters; tospiritual on thecontrary, itleadstoagreater open pone enboca desumaestro. Leíqueelalmapuedehuircuando muere brief comment interview: in Faith, Borges’s in worldview, isanindication matters of belief in about Ever mercurial, Borges also recognizes and“gnostic” that “agnostic” are mere user- (Burgin 240) we wouldhell. bein Christians believe thatone continues after deathto will come when we leave thisbody?Itcould beanightmare. And then doubt: Iswhat Iam going todoworthwhile? Will Ibeblotted out, orwill some othermannerafter my physical death. Ifeel every suicide hasthat I continue to live on another world? Or as Hamlet wonders, what dreams In spite of oneself, one thinks. Iam almostsure tobeblotted outbydeath, ing towhat thisbrieftimethatwasing hehasdone in given tohim. Iwould prefer tocontinue living after deathifIhave tobutforget thelife Ilived. be who hehasbeen andthatheispunishedorrewarded forever, accord itisnotimpossiblebut sometimesIthink thatImay continue tolive in gnostic He humorously deflectsthesombertone of Barnstone’s question: There are manytales andpoemsthatdemonstrate this . Borges: Ahyes, Imay be. Why notbeGnostics today and 22
“There are manyspeculations aboutlife - - - -
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 79 William Rowlandson 80 23 corroborate theirown interiorjourney toward self-realization” (xvii). church. Eugene Taylor, of ascholar Swedenborg andhisinfluence on Emerson and claim Borgesclaim asone of theirown—a Swedenborgian: when dying, thattheOtherworldhasnoresemblance tohispoetic vision. fiably have been able, upon death, tobesurroundedlandscape bythe of of their bidding aroundof theirbidding them. According tothislogic, Dante would justi his poetic cycle, thepresence in of Virgil. Logic isaninappropriate system scientist andinterpreter of religious experience. Itcan alsorefer more generally toavid Flaubert suggesting and Claudel in that Dante would be horrified to see, Borges alsoquotes Swedenborg stating thatthedeadproject in avision Borges’s criteria for appraising authenticity tosuchmetaphysical mat judging authenticity lie within acertain authenticity liewithin judging aesthetic integrity. Soconvinced were notmembersof thereligious movement, butwho used Swedenborg’s ideasto this question of credibility, andsuggests thatfor Borges thecriteria for ters of heaven or eschatology? Logic, for example, cannot be employed is Lawrence thatBorges isconvinced bySwedenborg, hegoes sofar asto such matters.in James Lawrence, editorof such matters.in Anexample of thisisthatBorges, asmentioned, quotes readers of Swedenborg’s works, suchastheNew England transcendentalists, who that follows thebiblical interpretation of Emanuel Swedenborg, aneighteenth-century man come from, that he cannot and describe something to try to imagine his companions, writes: “Swedenborgianism… refers toaChristiandemonination possibly know?” (Burgin 247). poem is also about hell, purgatory, paradise. Where does this tendency of In theabsence of empirical, experiential evidence, how can we judge ������������������������������������������������������������������ “Swedenborgian” amemberof need anySwedenborgian notmeanbeing When the epistemology of the knower is of solid pedigree, he believed, dred totheSwedish spirit mystic. Borges declares thathehimself isnota Borges believed Swedenborg’s in journeys spiritual more profoundly than Borges felt thatheshared withSwedenborg the same fundamental objec Borges professes his profound admiration of Swedenborg’s mode of that Borges ismostdeeply Swedenborgian. (x-xi) realities withasmuchconviction asBorges. anddaring thissense Itisin tives; they simplytraversed thesame terrain somewhat in different ways… perceptionsthen theensuing are themostsublimehumanityhasknown. inspiration butwhoinspiration have notbeen toexplore sodeeply inclined thesame many artistsandpoetswho have expressed perhaps someadmiration or mystic, butthatmysticism subjectfor isanimportant him. andfascinating knowing in this essay,knowing in and one quickly discerns that he also feels a kin Testimony totheInvisible 23 , seizes - - - - 24 This is a powerful assessment of Borges, and while readers familiar with doctrines of thecabala,doctrines because I’ve my tales. used them in Butreally Iwas only trying Hamlet isasreal asBioy Casares. This, asestablished, ele isanabiding explains theartifice,explains invention, orthe of thispassage: an imitation of mystical texts, itisnonetheless amystical text. and artifice areindistinguishable. The text andthemeta-text are both text. Borges’s acknowledgment thatthemystical passage “The in Aleph” was Borges would smirkatLawrence’s naïveté assuming in thatBorges was a a mystic… People thatI’ve think committed myself toidealism, tosolipsism, orto artistic: “Many peoplehave thoughtof meas athinker, asaphilosopher, oreven as mysticism tophilosophy, andtherefore suggesting thathisinterests are “merely” real asa the nature of thisbelief?Clearly, asthisarticle haselucidated, there isa believer ing is neverthelessing fully thelanguage borneoutbothin of Borges and, as forthright bysuggesting line thatthefour features of themystical encounter asdefined to see what could bedone withthem” (Burgin 79). Giskin, however, draws amore ment of Borges. Upon this basis, therefore, an mentioned, thestrong in presence of Swedenborg Borges. in Sowhat is paradoxical question attheheartof Borges’s reading of mystics. Reality by William James are present Borges, in the Aleph; particular in in ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Borges himself sidestepped thequestion of hisown mystical nature byallying A man in Spain asked Spain A manin mewhether thealeph actually existed. Ofcourse it gory, nottotime, buttospace? Whyspace in wherein apoint notimagine Q: Isthataninvention, thealeph, ordidyoufinditinsome reference? My firstaim was this:in thesame way thatmanymystics have talked of was thecentral idea. Then Ihadtoinvent all theotherthings, tomake it doesn’t. Hethoughtthewholewas thing true. Igave himthename of the street andthenumber of thehouse. Hewas taken very in easily…That eternity… that’sabig word, aneternity, aneverness. Andalsoneverness; all of our yesterdays, Shakespeare says, all the past, all the present, all the future. AndIsaid, why notapply that, well, thatinvention toanothercate that’s an awful word. Since we have anidea of eternity, of foreverness in the observer may findall the rest. Imean, inventedwho space? Andthat into afunny story,into tomake apathetic story, itinto thatcame afterwards. No. I’ll tell you, Iwas reading abouttimeandeternity. Now eternity issup less things in a single paragraph.less asingle in things Somehow, Igot away withit. posed tobetimeless. Imean, Godoramystic perceives one moment in piece gave megreat trouble, yes. Imean, Ihadtogive asensation of end in aparticular theological in heterodox), tradition (albeit sucharead genuinely experienced text of Heaven. And upon thisbasis, despite invented text of Heaven isas ergo Borges isamystic. 24 Borges - - - - -
Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 81 William Rowlandson 82 “The Aleph” which in thenarrator attempts tovocalize thevision of theAleph affected 25 glow, the Aleph is simply an imitation andisconsequently inauthentic. The If we follow theBorges who thattheLondon maintains of Chesterton or Song of Songs, andthatFray Luis deLeónissimplydoctrinally-inspired, visions” (Alifano 120). Thus the riddle unfolds. Realism, for Borges, is a vincing, itisbecause, for Borges, thetexts are suitably persuasive, precisely fiction, and yet realism, for Borges, is fully operationalin thepeculiar and of themimetic styleof hisfriendandmystic Xul Solar: “Ionce asked Xul of mystics doesnotrequire empirical proof of theirexperiences; what he how hedefinedhis own painting, andhe told methathe considered him self aRealistpainter, hepaintedwere since thethings what hesawhis in judgment, asLawrence suggests, the“solidpedigree” liesin of theepiste Dante andWeatherhead are all asauthentic asSwedenborg. Butifwe follow Dickens is as real London as the “real” is no differenceand that “there be then we have aseparate order of hermeneutics, and, despite itsnuminous the Borges who thatJohn maintains of theCross issimplyparodying the tween fact andfiction” (Barnstone 117), thentheAleph,“the Spaniards”, requires ispersuasion thatthevision isgenuine. IfSwedenborg iscon that theappreciation of mimesis—of a through theirlack of rhetorical features, artifice anddoctrine. Ultimately is aRealistof theFantastic. it isaquestion of style. Borges hisdescription sumsthisupsuccinctly in mology of theauthorandtext, theexperience notin her in aprofound manner. her in and“spiritual” perplexing theoryof mimesisof theimagination. Swedenborg, for Borges, biased byartifice—isin essence anaesthetic judgment. Borges as reader To complete thecircle of thisargument, therefore, we can maintain ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� A colleague madethiscleartome, of mine stating thatreading theparagraph in Jorge Luis Borges space wherein thewhole of space may befound? Ibegan withthatabstract time, why notapply thesame ideatospace, in of point asingle andthink idea, and then, somehow, I came to that quite enjoyable story. (Burgin 212) real description of experience un William Rowlandson qua University of Kent experience. 25 ------, ed. ---. ---. “Testimony totheInvisible.”InLawrence 1995. 3-16. ---. ---. Prologue to ---. Works Cited Alifano, Roberto. Alazraki, Jaime. Christ, Ronald, et. al. “Borges atNYU.” InBurgin 118-38. Enguídanos, Miguel, et. al. “Now Iam more orless who Iam.” Emerson, R. W. Burgin, Richard. Bourne, Daniel. “AConversation with Jorge Luis Borges.” Borges, Jorge Luis. Barnstone, Willis. Barili, Amelia. “Borges on Life andDeath.” Ed. Richard Burgin. El libro delos seres imaginarios The Total Library: Non-fiction, 1922-1986 Obras completas 1984. 1998. 164-76. Web.
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Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 83 William Rowlandson 84 ---. “Awriter iswaitingfor hisown work.” InBarnstone 91-101. Johnson, Gregory R. “William James on Swedenborg: ANewly Discov Mualem, Shlomy. “The Imminence of Revelation: Aesthetics andPoetic Moss, Robert. Giskin, Howard. “The Mystical Experience Borges: in AProblem of Per Salas, Susana Chica. “Conversación con Borges.” Sábato. Ernesto. Swedenborg, Emanuel. Sorrentino, Fernando. Shenker, Israel. “Borges, Writer aBlind withInsight.” Lezama Lima, José. Lawrence, James, ed. Romero, Oswaldo. obra “Diosenla deJorge L. Borges: Su teología ysu Rodríguez Risquete, Francisco. “Borges: fervor deDante.” Raine, Kathleen. “The HumanFace of God.”Ed. James Lawrence. 42.96-97 (1976): 585-91. 2001. Web. Christopher. Sig, ed. A Psychology of Spiritu A Psychology of Swedenborg, testigo delo invisible Magical Realism andthePostcolonial Novel: Between Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Ed. Richard Burgin. Jackson: UPof Mississippi, Visions andBeliefsintheWest Ireland of . West Chester: Chrysalis Books, 1995. 89-105. al Healing Ideas of Good andEvil Ideas of . West Chester: Chrysalis . BuenosAires: Mary Jorge Luis . London: A. . New . New - Borges’s Reading of Dante and Swedenborg 85