The Sect of the Phoenix
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| - | '''''Ficciones''''' is the most popular collection of [[short stories]] by [[Argentina|Argentine]] writer and poet [[Jorge Luis Borges]], often considered the best introduction to his work. ''Ficciones'' should not be confused with ''[[Labyrinths]]'', although they have much in common. ''Labyrinths'' is a separate translation of Borges's material into English, by James E. Irby, that, like the translation into English of ''Ficciones'', appeared in 1962. Together, these two translations led to much of Borges's worldwide fame in the 1960s. Several stories appear in both volumes. "[[The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim]]" appeared originally in ''[[History of Eternity]]'' (1936). | + | '''''The Sect of the Phoenix''''' (original [[Spanish language|Spanish]] title: '''"La secta del Fénix"''') is a [[short story]] by [[Argentina|Argentine]] writer [[Jorge Luis Borges]], first published in ''Sur'' in 1952. It was included in the 1956 edition of ''[[Ficciones]]'', part two (''Artifices''). The title has also been translated as "The Cult of the Phoenix." |
| - | ==Background== | + | ==Plot summary== |
| + | Borges gives an enigmatic description (or at least, assertion of the existence) of a secret society dating back to ancient times, the members of which "resemble every man in the world" and whose membership consists simply of the performance of a strange ritual. | ||
| - | ===Publication=== | + | ==Discussion on Meaning== |
| - | In 1941, Borges's second collection of fiction, '''''The Garden of Forking Paths''''' (''El Jardín de senderos que se bifurcan'') was published. It contained eight stories. In 1944, a new section labeled ''Artifices'', containing six stories, was added to the eight of ''The Garden of Forking Paths''. These were given the collective title ''Ficciones''. Borges added three more stories to the ''Artifices'' section in the 1956 edition. | + | Essentially the story is an extended [[riddle]], the mysterious description referring to a commonplace fact (as Borges points out in the prologue to ''Artifices''). The probable and common answer is that the riddle refers to [[sexual intercourse]], and Borges himself confessed as much. However, in relation to the debate on Borges' sexual orientation, it is argued by some that the secret Borges had in mind was, more specifically, [[Homosexuality|homosexual]] intercourse or homosexuality in general; to support this, they point to such clues as “scattered across the face of the earth, […] only one thing — the Secret — unites them and will unite them until the end of time”. Against this reading, however, one might observe the story's claim that "the history of the sect records no persecutions", which cannot be true if the 'Secret' is homosexual intercourse. Moreover, the name of the sect associates it with the mythological [[Phoenix (mythology)|Phoenix]], suggesting regeneration and renewal of life: the more obvious analogy, therefore, would be with procreative (that is, heterosexual) intercourse. According to [[Terence McKenna]]’s comments in a conference in December 1982, the Secret refers to a religious community based on the use of [[hallucinogenic plants]], which has existed for millennia. It is also referred to in ''[[The Aleph (short story collection)|El Aleph]]'', a precursor to this story. |
| - | ===Translation=== | + | The odd materials mentioned by Borges(*) as employed in the Secret act were given to him during a conversation with his friend [http://betina-edelberg.net/ 'the poet Betina Edelberg']: cork, wax or gum arabic or silt were all meant as a joke making allusion to the odd materials that could be employed in innumerable varieties of sexual practices. |
| - | In 1948, the story "The Garden of Forking Paths" was translated into English by [[Anthony Boucher]] and published in ''[[Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine]]''. | + | |
| - | In 1962, an English translation of ''Ficciones'' was published by Grove Press. Edited and introduced by [[Anthony Kerrigan]], the other translators were [[Anthony Bonner (translator)|Anthony Bonner]], [[Alastair Reid]], [[Helen Temple]], and [[Ruthven Todd]]. | + | (*)''[“...A slave, a leper or a beggar could act as mystagogues. Also a child can indoctrinate another child. The act itself is trivial, momentary and requires no description. The materials are cork, wax or gum arabic. (The liturgy speaks of silt; this is also often used.) There are no temples specially dedicated to the celebration of this cult, but a ruin, a basement or hall are considered propitious sites. ”]'' |
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| + | [http://www.borges.pitt.edu/category/bibliography-type/daniel-balderston?page=5 Prof. Daniel Balderston], the director of the [http://www.borges.pitt.edu/ Borges Center], brought up Borges' erotic drive when he interpreted 'The Sect of the Phoenix' as an autobiographic tale of 'male bonding' and 'anal penetration' (Fénix in Spanish sounds close to penis, in this case seen as a metaphor of the rebirth of the penis from its ashes after every performance {{citation needed|reason=given the tone and overall subjectivity, unclear whether from the source or original research|date=February 2016}}). It is thought that Borges may never have had coitus with any woman, but he acknowledged in a TV interview with journalist and writer [[Antonio Carrizo]] to have had experienced sexual intercourse in adulthood with at least a man. Borges added: “what a horror when the next day I was told that what that man did to me was an act of pederasty”; surely he was told thus by his authoritarian mother who treated Georgie as an underage boy all her life. {{citation needed|reason=again unclear whether the assumption is from the source or the writer of this article|date=February 2016}} | ||
| - | ==Contents== | + | In 'Borges beyond interpretations...' Anders Johansson questioned Balderton's interpretation thus: “... the latter passage in particular does not harmonize with Balderston’s idea that the sect of the Phoenix is constituted by ”‘male bonding,’ anal penetration” . How would cork, wax, gum Arabic or silt fit into that interpretation?” Johansson's take on the story further posits a lack of concrete meaning, in lieu of a riddle with a satisfactory solution. |
| - | * Part One: ''The Garden of Forking Paths'' | + | |
| - | ** Prologue | + | |
| - | ** [[Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius]] (1940) | + | |
| - | ** [[The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim]] (1936, not included in the 1941 edition) | + | |
| - | ** [[Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote]] (1939) | + | |
| - | ** [[The Circular Ruins]] (1940) | + | |
| - | ** [[The Lottery in Babylon]] (1941) | + | |
| - | ** [[An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain]] (1941) | + | |
| - | ** [[The Library of Babel]] (1941) | + | |
| - | ** [[The Garden of Forking Paths]] (1941) | + | |
| - | * Part Two: ''Artifices'' | + | |
| - | ** Prologue | + | |
| - | ** [[Funes the Memorious]] (1942) | + | |
| - | ** [[The Form of the Sword]] (1942) | + | |
| - | ** [[Theme of the Traitor and the Hero]] (1944) | + | |
| - | ** [[Death and the Compass]] (1942) | + | |
| - | ** [[The Secret Miracle]] (1943) | + | |
| - | ** [[Three Versions of Judas]] (1944) | + | |
| - | ** [[The End (story)|The End]] (1953, 2nd edition only) | + | |
| - | ** [[The Sect of the Phoenix]] (1952, 2nd edition only) | + | |
| - | ** [[The South (Borges story)|The South]] (1953, 2nd edition only) | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Style== | + | |
| - | ''Ficciones'' emphasizes and calls attention to its fictional nature. The choice and use of literary devices are conspicuous in the stories. Naomi Lindstrom explains that Borges saw an effort to make a story appear natural "as an impoverishment of fiction's possibilities and falsification of its artistic character." | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Themes== | + | |
| - | The labyrinth is a recurring motif throughout the stories. It is used as a metaphor to represent a variety of things: the overwhelmingly complex nature of worlds and the systems that exist on them, human enterprises, the physical and mental aspects of humans, and abstract concepts such as time. The stories of Borges can be seen as a type of labyrinth themselves. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Borges often gives his first-person narrators the name "Borges." While he imparts many of his own characteristics in them, he does not idealize them, and gives them human failings as well. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | English phrases appear intermittently in his Spanish stories. Occasionally, the title is in English. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Borges often puts his protagonists in red enclosures. This has led to analysis of his stories from a Freudian viewpoint, although Borges himself strongly disliked his work being interpreted in such a way. In fact, he called psychoanalysis (Obra poética, Prólogo) "la triste mitología de nuestro tiempo", or "the sad mythology of our time". | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Borges loved books and gives detailed descriptions of the characteristics of the fictional texts in his stories. In The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim, he indirectly suggests that a librarian is even holier than a saint. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Other themes throughout his stories include: philosophical issues; deterioration and ruination; games of strategy and chance; conspiracies and secret societies; and ethnic groups, especially those in his own ancestry. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Reception== | + | |
| - | ''Ficciones'' is one of [[Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century]]. | + | |
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[Mass of the Phoenix]] | ||
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The Sect of the Phoenix (original Spanish title: "La secta del Fénix") is a short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, first published in Sur in 1952. It was included in the 1956 edition of Ficciones, part two (Artifices). The title has also been translated as "The Cult of the Phoenix."
Plot summary
Borges gives an enigmatic description (or at least, assertion of the existence) of a secret society dating back to ancient times, the members of which "resemble every man in the world" and whose membership consists simply of the performance of a strange ritual.
Discussion on Meaning
Essentially the story is an extended riddle, the mysterious description referring to a commonplace fact (as Borges points out in the prologue to Artifices). The probable and common answer is that the riddle refers to sexual intercourse, and Borges himself confessed as much. However, in relation to the debate on Borges' sexual orientation, it is argued by some that the secret Borges had in mind was, more specifically, homosexual intercourse or homosexuality in general; to support this, they point to such clues as “scattered across the face of the earth, […] only one thing — the Secret — unites them and will unite them until the end of time”. Against this reading, however, one might observe the story's claim that "the history of the sect records no persecutions", which cannot be true if the 'Secret' is homosexual intercourse. Moreover, the name of the sect associates it with the mythological Phoenix, suggesting regeneration and renewal of life: the more obvious analogy, therefore, would be with procreative (that is, heterosexual) intercourse. According to Terence McKenna’s comments in a conference in December 1982, the Secret refers to a religious community based on the use of hallucinogenic plants, which has existed for millennia. It is also referred to in El Aleph, a precursor to this story.
The odd materials mentioned by Borges(*) as employed in the Secret act were given to him during a conversation with his friend 'the poet Betina Edelberg': cork, wax or gum arabic or silt were all meant as a joke making allusion to the odd materials that could be employed in innumerable varieties of sexual practices.
(*)[“...A slave, a leper or a beggar could act as mystagogues. Also a child can indoctrinate another child. The act itself is trivial, momentary and requires no description. The materials are cork, wax or gum arabic. (The liturgy speaks of silt; this is also often used.) There are no temples specially dedicated to the celebration of this cult, but a ruin, a basement or hall are considered propitious sites. ”]
Prof. Daniel Balderston, the director of the Borges Center, brought up Borges' erotic drive when he interpreted 'The Sect of the Phoenix' as an autobiographic tale of 'male bonding' and 'anal penetration' (Fénix in Spanish sounds close to penis, in this case seen as a metaphor of the rebirth of the penis from its ashes after every performance Template:Citation needed). It is thought that Borges may never have had coitus with any woman, but he acknowledged in a TV interview with journalist and writer Antonio Carrizo to have had experienced sexual intercourse in adulthood with at least a man. Borges added: “what a horror when the next day I was told that what that man did to me was an act of pederasty”; surely he was told thus by his authoritarian mother who treated Georgie as an underage boy all her life. Template:Citation needed
In 'Borges beyond interpretations...' Anders Johansson questioned Balderton's interpretation thus: “... the latter passage in particular does not harmonize with Balderston’s idea that the sect of the Phoenix is constituted by ”‘male bonding,’ anal penetration” . How would cork, wax, gum Arabic or silt fit into that interpretation?” Johansson's take on the story further posits a lack of concrete meaning, in lieu of a riddle with a satisfactory solution.
See also
