27 pages 54 minutes read

Jorge Luis Borges

Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1939

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Background

Authorial Context: Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo was born on August 24, 1899, to a well-educated middle-class family in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His mother was from a Uruguayan family of Spanish origin, while his father was of Spanish, Portuguese, and English descent. Jorge Luis Borges demonstrated an aptitude for literature at an early age, translating a collection of children’s stories by Oscar Wilde into Spanish at age 10. His family was devoted to reading and writing; they lived in a large house with over 1,000 English-language volumes in their library.

The Borges family moved to Europe when Jorge was 14 and lived in a number of different countries for the next decade, returning to Argentina in 1921. He lived in Argentina for the remainder of his life, working as a writer for various literary magazines and founding a few journals himself. He also became interested in the philosophy of existentialism and began to explore existential questions in his writing, composing a number of stories exploring labyrinths, paradoxes, and impossible or fantastic events.

On Christmas Eve in 1938, Borges experienced a severe head injury and nearly died of infection during his treatment. “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” was written during his period of recovery as a test of whether his creativity as a writer had survived.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 27 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 8,400+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools