[New-Poetry] Borges

[David Bircumshaw]

Thanks to Anny for the interesting link. Regarding Borges, I knew about 
his being criticised for not publicly opposing the generals, what I 
don't know about is the precise nature of the difficulties between him 
and the earlier post-war Peronist regime (under which he certainly was 
victimised) and how much this influenced, and compromised, his attitudes 
towards the deposing of its latter incarnation.
Where feet are concerned, Roger, unmetrically, my own are made of sand 
(my peripheries have neuropathy) but where those whose feet are made of 
clay occur I have compassion as long as they don't tread on me as it is 
a rather sticky, suffocating and geologically  long-term fate to suffer.

Best

Dave
> I think the art for art's sake is a red-herring in this context. Jorge
> Luis undoubtedly supported a dictatorship (I believe he knew exactly
> what he was doing) and there are many other examples: Heidegger and
> von Karajan Nazis, Eliot, royalist and anti-semite. Gertrude Stein
> spent  the Second World War in a secluded French villa living very
> nicely, thankyou very much, in direct contrast to Claude Cahun who
> actively tried to obstruct the Nazi cause
> (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n24/cast01_.html). All our heroes have feet
> of clay. Lawrence said trust the tale and not the teller, and I urge
> compassion when thinking of those who transgress.
>
> Roger
> On Sun, Mar 16, 2008 at 6:46 PM, Anny Ballardini <anny.ballardini at tin.it> wrote:
>   
> >
> >
> > [..] The belief in art for art's sake, according to the Russian Communist
> > theorist Georgy Plekhanov, "arises when artists and also people keenly
> > interested in art are hopelessly out of harmony with their social
> > environment." [...]
> > http://dailyscare.com/2751/on-the-trail-of-jorge-luis-borges-in-buenos-aires
> >

-- 

David Bircumshaw
Website and A Chide's Alphabet http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk