University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

La verosimilitud: a propósito de tres cuentos de Jorge Luis Borges

David N. Petro

3123 S. Indiana Ave.

Milwaukee, WI 53207

dnpetro@uwm.edu

262-880-2334

Spanish 781: Latin American Narratives

Dr. Nancy Bird-Soto

Research Paper: Spring 2015

**Would need access to Internet and PowerPoint**

Abstract

The work of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges often incorporates themes of history,

religion and identity. Such is the case of three short stories found in El Aleph (1949): “Biografía

de Tadeo Isidoro Cruz (1829-1874),” “Emma Zunz” and “Deutsches Requiem.” Each story

adheres to an unequivocal verisimilitude as the plot unfolds in a setting that is nuanced by

historical veracity. Religion and identity become major components of the aforementioned

literary works as they describe, define and personify the society and the self of the characters

involved. Notwithstanding the realistic ambit of each story, there also exists a dimension of the

fantastic. The case is made that the first of the aforementioned stories pertains to the fantastic

genre, as outlined by Tzvetan Todorov, whereas the other two simply provide brief interpolations

of fantastic elements.

The artistic representations of history, religion and identity in Borges are substantial

themes which relate to the human experience as conditioned by immigration and diaspora.

Judaism, in both its realms of religiosity and social as well as personal identity, is an unescapable

element portrayed with much vigor in “Emma Zunz.” Set in the city of Buenos Aires in the

1920s, a metropolis of immigration at the time, “Emma Zunz” is a detective fiction thriller that

narrates the revenge perpetrated by the main character of the same name. Similarly, Tadeo

Isidoro Cruz’s “biography” is the portrayal of the gaucho figure often alluded to in nineteenth

century Argentine society and literature, product of Spanish immigration raised on indigenous

American soil. Finally, “Deutsches Requiem” is the despicable monologue of a condemned Nazi

general upon the conclusion of World War II. A contributor to the Holocaust, as many were in

real life, many European Jews fled to Buenos Aires to escape the wrath of people like Otto

Dietrich zur Linde.