Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows how Jorge Luis Borges's "Pierre Menard" can inspire students to reflect on the nonsensical positions on originals and authors, translators and readers, which are commonly taken for granted by the persistent essentialist tradition and its belief in the possibility of fixed meanings and ideally neutral, non-interfering subjects. It explains some associations between Borges's own biography and his "Pierre Menard", with special emphasis on his early translation practice and the launching of his career as a poet after he falls in love with Walt Whitman's poetry. The book proposes a reflection on gender-related stereotypes often found at the core of cliched assumptions about authorship and translation and is organized around two pieces – Jose Saramago's History of the Siege of Lisbon and Isaac Babel's "Guy de Maupassant".