Un dios despedazado y disperso. Imágenes de Jesús en la obra de Borges

Abstract

From his first expressionist poems in the 1920s to “Cristo en la cruz” (1985), the figure of Jesus Christ is recurrent in Borges’ work. Sometimes treated with irony, but generally an object of fascination and singular agnostic fervor, Jesus appears as an inescapable figure. In this article I will analyze the representations of Jesus in Borges’ work. I will focus on three images that I consider to be the most relevant ones. First, the Crucified, an image that emphasizes Christ’s humanity by denying – or at least suspending – his divinity. Second, the poet, the greatest of the oral masters, creator of splendid metaphors, and the object of an aesthetic and ethical appreciation. And third, the Incarnate Word, the God who becomes man. As I will attempt to show, these images of Jesus can also be related to some core elements in Borges’ poetics.