Pau Freixa Terradas

Few authors of the 20th century have had such a remarkable influence on the literature of other writers as Jorge Luis Borges. The impact of his works can be appreciated in all important national literatures; many writers have recognized his expertise and influence, some of them openly imitating him. In this respect, literature written in Serbo- Croatian is a special case, with a huge reception of his literature. The Borges “wave” arrived late to Yugoslavia, but with increased strength, and from the 1970s on the Argentinean author has remained one of the favourite writers amongst young readers. Local writers quickly absorbed all the aesthetic and conceptual developments of the author of  Ficciones, even giving birth to a new trend called “Borgesian prose” which has given the world such remarkable authors as Milorad Pavić. Although not considered strictly a borgesist, Danilo Kiš, one of the internationally best known Serbian authors, deserves special attention. Much of his work is marked in many ways by Borgesian stylistic and thematic influences. Numerous intertextualities make some of his texts a genuine dialogue with the Argentinean master. However, the high quality, originality and diversity of Kiš’s work distinguish the Serbian author from the rest of the Balkan Borges’ followers. The present paper reviews the influences, references, allusions, appropriations and other intertextual links to Borges’ literature that can be found in works by Kiš, from his first novels, where the influence is more subdued, through numerous references in A tomb for Boris Davidovich, to the already clearly Borgesian stories of The Encyclopaedia of the Dead.

The following article deals with the literary biographical reportage Papusza and the author’s impression of the Gypsy poetess. Kuźniak explores Papusza’s life beyond the myth rooted in popular culture. And in her search for the real Papusza she finds an absolutely tragic figure. Naturally, the author applies a highly critical feminist gaze that detects the “sins” for which the poetess will have to “pay”, and in general these are related to the fact that she is a woman. But there is no discourse here: the author makes the facts speak for themselves. The plot is constructed in such a way that the moral commentary is redundant. Kuźniak’s work is a dry, minimalist book, built upon bare factsand scraps of life, with no apparent literary work: its stylisation is expressed through linguistic coarseness, imitating Papusza’s austere way of life (a life where the poetry is sought after), her primitive writing and even her naive poetry. As we shall see, three great condemnations loom over Papusza’s life: femininity, gypsyness and otherness. But Kuźniak goes beyond the specific biographical account, which in turn serves as a micro-historical vector through which we gain access to a vision of the history of Polish Gypsies in the twentieth century. Thanks to that Papusza thus becomes a critical essay dealing with the issues of discrimination, gender and otherness.

This article presents the Argentinian reception of the author of Trans-Atlantyk from his arrival in Buenos Aires until his death in France. The article is divided into three parts and each of them is dedicated to one of the three last decades of Witold Gombrowicz’s life. The author mentions the initial attempts of establishing relations with Argentinian writers (Jorge Luis Borges, for example, or the circle of the Sur magazine), first publication of texts as well as the collective translation of Ferdydurke in Café Rex during the 1960s, and recognizes that sometime in the 1950s Gombrowicz made peace with the fact of his literary obscurity in the land of his emigration, therefore changing his strategy of self-promotion. Only after he returned to Europe did the first signs of recognition reach him from Argentina, where the Diario argentino was just published (it was a selection of writings from Gombrowicz’s Diary for the Argentine reader).