El Sur

BorgesI'm currently taking a class called "Critical Approaches: Reading, Writing and Textual Analysis" which basically requires us to read Spanish Literature and be able to dissect it given it's political or historical construct. We not too long ago had an assignment where we had to read a short story by Jorge Luis Borges ( a much celebrated Argentine writer) called "El Sur" or The South in English. In the story, a man of German descent born and raised in Buenos Aires and proud to be an Argentina national suffers from a head injury as he excitedly rushes home to open his copy of Arabian nights. He is then rushed to the hospital where the character describes a very violent scene of nurses strapping him to the bed and shaving his head. He describes his stay in the hospital as being in hell. He feels humiliated knowing he's going to die in such a manner. As he's drying he travels in his mind to the south of Argentina to the countryside. Though never having gone, it's apparent that the character feels that there is something in the south, not in Buenos Aires that he must experience before he dies. Borges paints a picture of lush greenery, tranquility and remoteness. A stark contrast from the scene in the city which was described as an inferno. The character goes to a bar where many gauchos ( one of the major symbols of Argentine culture) hang out and gets into a little tuff with one of them. The gaucho then challenges the character to a duel in which the character knows he will lose and die. He accepts the challenge, and dies a death he attributes to bravery instead of humiliation. He was able to successfully use travel as a mechanism of drifting between worlds and alternating his destiny. I saw the short story as its own piece of Argentine art by its way of providing a reflection and representation of Argentine. Borges is known for writing subtly about Argentine culture in his works and playing with ideologies of what it means (or thought to mean) to be Argentine. He uses the scene of the hospital as a metaphor for Buenos Aires and the scene of the south as a metaphor for the countryside and all things tranquil. It's interesting because Buenos Aires is scene as the cultural hub of Argentina, where all things civilized and cultured remain. Yet, the character finds it necessary to travel to the south where the gauchos are (where popular opinion was that gauchos and all things associated with them were uncultured and classless). The story serves as a reflection of how Argentines even view themselves. The character, an Argentine of German descent, carrying around his copy of a Weil edition of Arabian Nights shows that he's someone of a certain higher class and status which showed his capability of reading and understanding a European language which are all elements of what it means to be Argentine: identifying your European traits and attributing it to your being cultured while still maintaining your own identity of being Argentine. All of these things are described in his world of Buenos Aires. As he is dying, he escapes and travels by train to the south where the gauchos are who can give him back his honor he lost. You see, there was a time when the gauchos were considered to be the anti-thesis of Argentine culture, and now they are considered to be the pinnacle of Argentine culture. Borges connects the two using the train as a way to show that although they are completely opposite of one another, they still belong to the same history and culture.