Borges, Gender, and Sexuality

Abstract This chapter addresses feminist and queer analyses of Borges’s narrative, especially “La intrusa” [The Intruder] and “Emma Zunz,” including Jewish feminist approaches. It discusses biographical criticism, particularly concerning Borges’s own sexuality. It considers how Borges’s writing relates to conflicts between nonessentialists and deconstructionist feminists, looking at both women’s subjectivity and a symbolic system rooted in gender difference. It proposes a new reading of “El duelo” [The Duel] that troubles the view of Borges as simply a cheerleader for patriarchal heteronormativity and proposes a new term, “the Borges impediment,” where the author opens up a space for women to establish relationships only to foreclose on them. The chapter turns to a discussion of queer critical concerns, including signs of homoeroticism and homophobia, and it looks at the occasional convergences of Borges scholarship and LGBTQ studies among scholars who do both, but often not at the same time. It concludes with a consideration of art in a range of genres that both renders homage to Borges and challenges the heteronormative, patriarchal world he reflects and produces.