"Averroës's Search" (original Spanish title: "La Busca de Averroes") is a 1947 short story by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. Originally published in the magazine Sur, it was later included in his second anthology of short stories, El Aleph.
The story imagines the difficulty of Averroës, the famed Islamic philosopher and translator, in translating Aristotle's Poetics because he was not able to understand what a play was, owing to the absence of live theatrical performances from Averroës' cultural milieu, in contrast to that of ancient Greece. In the story, Averroës casually observes some children play-acting, then later hears a traveler ineptly describe an actual theatrical performance he once saw in a distant land, but still fails to understand that the tragedies and comedies of which Aristotle writes are a kind of performance art, rather than merely literature.
The process of writing the story is meant to parallel the events in the story itself; Borges writes in an afterword to the story that his attempt to understand Averroës was as doomed as Averroës's attempt to understand drama. "I felt that the work mocked me, foiled me, thwarted me. I felt that Averroës, trying to imagine what a play is without ever having suspected what a theater is, was no more absurd than I, trying to imagine Averroës yet with no more material than a few snatches from Renan, Lane, and Asín Palacios."
Sourcesedit
Shavit, Ayelet; Ellison, Aaron M., eds. (2017). Stepping in the Same River Twice: Replication in Biological Research. Yale University Press. pp. 28–30. ISBN978-0-300-20954-9.
April 11, 2024
averroes, search, averroës, search, original, spanish, title, busca, averroes, 1947, short, story, argentine, writer, jorge, luis, borges, originally, published, magazine, later, included, second, anthology, short, stories, aleph, averroës, search, short, stor. Averroes s Search original Spanish title La Busca de Averroes is a 1947 short story by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges Originally published in the magazine Sur it was later included in his second anthology of short stories El Aleph Averroes s Search Short story by Jorge Luis BorgesOriginal titleLa Busca de AverroesCountryArgentinaLanguageSpanishGenre s Historical short storyPublicationPublished inSurMedia typePrintPublication dateJune 1947Plot summary editThe story imagines the difficulty of Averroes the famed Islamic philosopher and translator in translating Aristotle s Poetics because he was not able to understand what a play was owing to the absence of live theatrical performances from Averroes cultural milieu in contrast to that of ancient Greece In the story Averroes casually observes some children play acting then later hears a traveler ineptly describe an actual theatrical performance he once saw in a distant land but still fails to understand that the tragedies and comedies of which Aristotle writes are a kind of performance art rather than merely literature The process of writing the story is meant to parallel the events in the story itself Borges writes in an afterword to the story that his attempt to understand Averroes was as doomed as Averroes s attempt to understand drama I felt that the work mocked me foiled me thwarted me I felt that Averroes trying to imagine what a play is without ever having suspected what a theater is was no more absurd than I trying to imagine Averroes yet with no more material than a few snatches from Renan Lane and Asin Palacios Sources editShavit Ayelet Ellison Aaron M eds 2017 Stepping in the Same River Twice Replication in Biological Research Yale University Press pp 28 30 ISBN 978 0 300 20954 9 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Averroes 27s Search amp oldid 988917657, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
