Macedonio Fernndez: Between Literature, Philosophy, and the Avant-Garde

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At Macedonio Fernndezs funeral in 1952, Jorge Luis Borges delivered the following elegy: In those years I imitated him to the point of transcription, to the point of devout and passionate plagiarism. I felt: Macedonio is metaphysics, Macedonio is literature. This is the first book available in English that collects essays by the worlds leading scholars on Macedonio Fernndez, one of Borgess most important mentors and a still enigmatic thinker of the early 20th century. Macedonio's philosophy, metaphysics, ethics, and experimental writing laid the foundations for Borgess own theoretical and literary matrix. Nonetheless, Borges helped shape a myth of Macedonio as a thinker who could not translate his oratorial geniality into written intelligibility. So, despite the centrality of Macedonio to Borgess thought, his work has remained almost unknown to English-speaking readers. Contributors to this volume demonstrate, however, that this myth reduces the complexities of Macedonios life and creative process, as each chapter shines new light on his texts. Conceived as both a companion for new readers of Macedonios writings and an invitation for specialists to revisit his work through new perspectives, essays in this volume provide extensive background and bibliographical references, as well as English translations of Macedonios original texts. This collection seeks to serve as a catalyst for the continued discovery and rediscovery of Macedonio Fernndezs texts and the ways they might help us to rediscover the singularities of our own present moment.

Reviews

This volume brings together the essays of upcoming Latin Americanists and established figures of Argentine culture in order to celebrate Macedonio Fernndez and reintroduce him to readers of English. It is a treat here to ponder Macedonios radical avant-garde presence in the culture of the 1920s and 30s and to enter his world of philosophical fictions where he disrupts all realist epistemologies and shakes the bases of literary genre. * Francine Masiello, Ancker Distinguished Professor in the Humanities Emerita, University of California at Berkeley, USA *
Macedonio was a great Argentinian writer whose literature/philosophy encourages others to write. This volume explores the dialogues and conversations provoked by his writing and it also places him at the crossroads of global modernity. * Graciela Montaldo, Professor of Latin American and Iberian Studies, Columbia University, USA *
This carefully edited collection on Macedonio Fernndez sets an impressively high standard for future studies of the legendary Argentinian. The essays are rigorous, wide-ranging, and ambitious and include a diverse range of perspectives that coincide in delivering a freshly nuanced and sophisticated assessment of the avant-garde author and his seemingly inexhaustible worlds. This is an important work of critical and visionary scholarship. * Francisco-J. Hernndez Adrin, Associate Professor of Hispanic and Visual Culture Studies, Durham University, UK *

Author Bio

Federico Fridman is Lecturer of Spanish at the University of Michigan, USA.