[New-Poetry] Borges

Roger Day rog3r.day at gmail.com
Tue Mar 18 14:55:16 EST 2008 

1975 to 1983 were the years of the Dirty war, although the military
began their "campaign" in 1970 it wasn't until 1975 after the exit of
Isabel Peron that the campaign entered it's more ... hideous phase.
JLB resigned from directorship of the Argentinian National Library in
1973, back when Peron re-assumed power. He spent the years 1976 to
1986 abroad, feted as an international literary figure. Even the cunts
who controlled Argentina at the time would have had a lot to explain
if he "disappeared". When the 1976 coup was executed, JLB said: "We
are now ruled by gentlemen." Maybe, as Dave says, this was because of
his hatred of the Peronists, maybe this blinded him to the terror of
the following years, maybe this saved him from the butcher's knife,
maybe he just wasn't there, maybe he just didn't know (Arendt called
Heidegger childlike). I don' t think he was working from within, why
would he go abroad if he was working from within? So yes, as you say,
strange.

As a foot-note, I visited Buenos Aires a couple of times in 1980. I
had to walk past their equivalent of the Defence Ministry at night:
searchlights, guard-dogs, guns. I remember beautiful girls and
well-dressed families strolling in the early evening. I remember
watching A Bridge Too Far with the sound turned down and Spanish
subtitles. I remember eating steak and drinking rough wine in the
restaurants, the balmy breeze, the rustle of leaves and dresses. I
remember the River Plate supporters racing through the center after a
convincing win over the Boca Juniors. I remember the sound of gunshots
and not asking questions. I remember talking politics to a gang-boss,
who re-iterated that old saw about Latin American countries needing
strong leaders. I remember him being nervous.

I do not remember anything about a "dirty war". Now I wonder why
nothing was done to stop the murderers.

Roger

On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 4:55 PM, Anny Ballardini <anny.ballardini at tin.it> wrote:
> the question is if you are doing better by being slaughtered or by surviving
>  and if you choose the latter if there is any possibility of saving anybody
>  you know.
>  If you want to dismantle power you have to work from inside, this is what I
>  have always thought.
>  Otherwise you end up being a suicide bomber,
>
>  what is strange is that he survived. I know that a friend of a friend who
>  was an anthropologist interested in religions was seized and disappeared. I
>  really wonder how Borges made it. They practically killed out an entire
>  generation.
>
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: "Roger Day" <rog3r.day at gmail.com>
>  To: "NewPoetry: Contemporary Poetry News &amp,Views"
>
> <new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu>
>  Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 12:29 PM
>  Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] Borges
>
>
>
>
> > He lost his job under Peron for apparently being outspoken so maybe he
>  > was trying to keep his job? I don't think I'd do any different in the
>  > circumstances.
>  >
>  > On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 8:48 PM, David Bircumshaw
>  > <david.bircumshaw at ntlworld.com> wrote:
>  >> 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
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>  _______________________________________________
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>  >>
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > --
>  > My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
>  > "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
>  > She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
>  > The Go-Betweens
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-- 
My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
"She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
The Go-Betweens

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