‘A Sinful Passion’: Mario Vargas Llosa’s Readings of Borges from 1964 to 2014

• DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2022.2067294
• Publication Date: 2022-05-24T15:45:59Z
• Authors: Stefano Rossoni
• Keywords: Emblem; Passion; Cosmopolitanism

This article examines Vargas Llosa’s fifty-year-long conflicted fascination for Jorge Luis Borges. The young and leftist Llosa disregarded Borges as the embodiment of a disengaged intellectual, while mature celebrates him emblem cosmopolitanism that should inspire globalized societies today. Focusing on different stages intellectual biography, I examine how his interpretations are informed by readings Jean-Paul Sartre, Gabriel García Márquez Miguel de Cervantes. Considering intersections political engagement literary theories, study incorporates Borges’ intellectualism into fiction imbues it with eroticism.