BLENDING MAGIC AND REALITY IN BORGES’S THE IMMORTAL: AN ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The paper aims to probe the application of magical realism in The Immortal a compelling short story by the celebrated Argentine author, Jorge Luis Borges. The essence of magical realism is explored as a literary genre, identifying its major tenets and discussing its implications in the narrative structure of the short story. The study uses the theoretical model presented by Faris (2004) to analyze five tenets – upsetting the received ideas about identity, space and time, the description of real world, irreducible element, merging realism and upsetting doubts – of magical realism. It is described how Borges deftly mingles the fantastical elements of immortality and an understudying transforming city into apparent ordinary world of The Immortal. The narrative structure of the short story moves ahead to probe into the complex web of themes of identity, mortality and the fluidity of time. In an engaging way, these themes are presented via the lens of magical realism. Furthermore, the study unveils how the author uses magical realism to question the understanding of the readers about reality. The study ends with suggestion that Borges’ utilization of magical realism expands beyond mere surreal representation while fostering a through interrogation of reality itself.