Have a read and let’s discuss! I’ll be paying particular attention to themes and writing style, with hopes of deepening my insights into magical realism.
Hi Mek, Thanks for posting Borges's story. I enjoyed the challenge of this one. Though, tbh, I feel anxious at the thought of saying anything about it because... well... 'This pointless, verbose epistle already exists in one of the thirty volumes of the five bookshelves in one of the countless hexagons - as does its refutation.' Sorry!
I guess I'll say something around it instead. Again, sorry! Reading it reminded me of something I've heard many people say over the years, students mostly: Whatever I have to say has already been said before, and said better than I can say it. That thought tends to send people into a bit of a funk. (I guess Borges might say, a thought that 'renders [them] phantasmal')
It gets me thinking about representation. Would anyone who has never or rarely seen themselves or their ideas in cultural objects (books, TV shows, plays, whatever) ever be in a position to say that what they have to say has already been said, but better. I suspect not. There would more likely be an experience of absence, where others are experiencing saturation.
... then I started imagining the travellers of Borges's library like internet search algorithms... and then I started thinking about AI and the way it replicates cultural biases because its learning environment is plagued by bias. Then trolls, bots, and juries. I've been doing lots of thinking. Maybe that could be a short story in itself: Things I thought after reading Borges's 'The Library of Babel'. Thanks again for sharing. Kristen
Hi Mek, Thanks for posting Borges's story. I enjoyed the challenge of this one. Though, tbh, I feel anxious at the thought of saying anything about it because... well... 'This pointless, verbose epistle already exists in one of the thirty volumes of the five bookshelves in one of the countless hexagons - as does its refutation.' Sorry!
I guess I'll say something around it instead. Again, sorry! Reading it reminded me of something I've heard many people say over the years, students mostly: Whatever I have to say has already been said before, and said better than I can say it. That thought tends to send people into a bit of a funk. (I guess Borges might say, a thought that 'renders [them] phantasmal')
It gets me thinking about representation. Would anyone who has never or rarely seen themselves or their ideas in cultural objects (books, TV shows, plays, whatever) ever be in a position to say that what they have to say has already been said, but better. I suspect not. There would more likely be an experience of absence, where others are experiencing saturation.
... then I started imagining the travellers of Borges's library like internet search algorithms... and then I started thinking about AI and the way it replicates cultural biases because its learning environment is plagued by bias. Then trolls, bots, and juries. I've been doing lots of thinking. Maybe that could be a short story in itself: Things I thought after reading Borges's 'The Library of Babel'. Thanks again for sharing. Kristen