My research centers on Jorge Luis Borges and constructs a web of influences on him and his literary oeuvre through examining his many interviews. Throughout his life, Borges consented to hundreds of interviews. Rather than undertaking exhaustive research, I gathered data from nine of Borges’ most widely available interviews, largely conducted in English and issued in prominent, English-language publications. Some interviewers transcribed the interview content in the moment or from tape recordings afterwards, while others reconstructed interviews years later through notes and memory. In every dialogue, Borges names numerous authors, which I count in the appendix. These conversational mentions constitute explicit influences, as Borges claims
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Most obviously, the interviewer steers the interview according to subjective priorities and, sometimes, even the interviewee guides the line of questioning. In ‘Borges and the World of Fiction’, Irishmen Seamus Heaney and Kearney prompt almost exclusively Classical and Western European references, with Borges mentioning only one exception at his own discretion, who remains Eurocentric (Leo Tolstoy). Similarly, despite Christ’s background in Spanish translations, his interview with Borges only contains one question regarding a non-Western European or American author (Cesares). Conversely, the interview for The Massachusetts Review, in which two of three interviewers are Latin American, contains references to twenty Latin American writers and two Eastern works. These examples suggest that an interviewer’s background influences the questions and content of an interview. As I largely rely on English-language publications with British or American interviewers, my results are unnaturally Western-centric. Moreover, some interviewers admit to deceit. Christ’s editor George Plimpton added a second interruption to his interview with Borges to create more ‘tension’. For his part, Borges also intentionally and unintentionally creates ambiguity. Lyon explores Borges’ use of irony, feigned ignorance, and counter-questions to control his interviews. These tactics result in uncertain interpretations of Borges’ answers. Borges also makes mistakes in his interviews, misremembering his publication dates and
Most obviously, the interviewer steers the interview according to subjective priorities and, sometimes, even the interviewee guides the line of questioning. In ‘Borges and the World of Fiction’, Irishmen Seamus Heaney and Kearney prompt almost exclusively Classical and Western European references, with Borges mentioning only one exception at his own discretion, who remains Eurocentric (Leo Tolstoy). Similarly, despite Christ’s background in Spanish translations, his interview with Borges only contains one question regarding a non-Western European or American author (Cesares). Conversely, the interview for The Massachusetts Review, in which two of three interviewers are Latin American, contains references to twenty Latin American writers and two Eastern works. These examples suggest that an interviewer’s background influences the questions and content of an interview. As I largely rely on English-language publications with British or American interviewers, my results are unnaturally Western-centric. Moreover, some interviewers admit to deceit. Christ’s editor George Plimpton added a second interruption to his interview with Borges to create more ‘tension’. For his part, Borges also intentionally and unintentionally creates ambiguity. Lyon explores Borges’ use of irony, feigned ignorance, and counter-questions to control his interviews. These tactics result in uncertain interpretations of Borges’ answers. Borges also makes mistakes in his interviews, misremembering his publication dates and