‘Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius’

Approached on occasions as a depiction of Argentina’s vulnerability to fascism and Nazism, ‘Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius’ is read here in light of the theoretical concept of ‘coloniality’, illustrated by the negative effects of neocolonialism in 1940s Buenos Aires. The historical frame of reference evoked in the story also encompasses the first and second waves of European imperialism (as construed by Wallerstein, Mignolo et al.); having begun in 1492, modern European imperialism entered a second phase around the time of the Enlightenment. The twin motifs of encyclopedias and mirrors are crucial to the meanings of ‘Tlön’, where they reflect a scenario of marginality and belatedness that is to be explained in terms of geopolitics. Through references to authors including Shakespeare and Aldous Huxley, the chapter also addresses issues of language and creative responsibility under conditions of dystopia.