Understanding the works of Jorge Luis Borges, especially the short stories from F icciones, is not an easy task by any measure. The ever-present motifs and the consistent open endings to his texts make them very difficult pieces to take apart and fully comprehend. However, when listening to Kat’s presentation on Borges’ background and Crystal’s presentation on gauchos in Argentina I was more fully able to piece together the bits of information Borges gives his readers to form a complete picture in my mind of what each story signifies. Although Kat’s presentation did not pertain to a specific story or aid in the explanation of any particular concept, the information she provided on who Borges was aided me in understanding some of the motifs …show more content…
Ultraism came out of the opposition to Modernism and essentially included ideas such as the use of evocative imagery to fuse poetry into other literary formats (like Borges’ short stories). Borges’ heavy involvement with the movement explains why his writing is so poetically and precisely descriptive. Kat also mentioned that Borges was a librarian, and was incredibly enthusiastic about it too. Not only does this provide further explanation as to why Borges was such a skilled author, but it also provides insight to a character in his story, “The South,” who was also a librarian. In listening to Crystal’s presentation, which was focused on “The South” and the gaucho culture in Argentina, I was able to make even more connections between the character of Dahlmann and Borges himself. Crystal explained how being a gaucho meant having strong machismo, or manliness. In “The South,” it is clear that Dahlmann desperately wants to be accepted into the gaucho culture, but having a somewhat cowardly personality ends up hurting his chances of ever achieving that goal. The intense details that Borges provides about how Dahlmann feels about being unaccepted and unwelcome in the gaucho culture cause me to