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Abraham, Carlos. Borges y Ia ciencia ficción [Borges and Science Fiction]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Quadrata, 2005. 159 pp. Paperback. ISBN 987-1139-64-0. $16.23.
- . Estudios sobre literatura fantástica [Studies on Fantastic Literature]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Quadrata, 2006. 192 pp. Paperback. ISBN 987-1139-74-8. $50.36.
These two books on sf and fantastic literature ask to be read in different ways. While Borges and Science Fiction argues from the premise that Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges engaged in a "secret" rewriting of several sf topics and canonical and non-canonical works, Studies on Fantastic Literature gathers together brief essays on the fantastic. Although at times the author's approach seems a bit constraining, both volumes show his solid assets as a scholar and his determination to chart a seldom explored territory.
While critical scholarship of Borges in the context of fantastic literature has been abundant, Carlos Abraham correctly points out the lack of critical attention received by the Argentine writer with regard to sf. The book follows an academic thesis format, and this explains its structure: the three introductory chapters offer general comments on the idea of the canon and on the concepts of "high" and "low" genres, and briefly review theoretical considerations regarding fantastic and sf literature. The most original contributions begin with the fourth section. Like many critics before him, Abraham discusses Borges's heterodox literary and cultural references and his tendency to mix and match "literary" and popular genres, but then he makes valuable inroads when discussing Borges's relationship to sf. These include the influence of theosophy and esotericism in his work and the sources of sf available to Borges in Argentina at the time, such as imported books, translations, and horror and fantastic pulp fiction both in Spanish and English. Subsequently, the author aims to show that many of Borges's best-known short stories are in fact rewritings: "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" finds its counterparts in C. S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Flanet and in Olaf Stapledon's Starmaker; "The Library of Babel"...