On heroines and the ethics of revenge: Emma Zunz and Borges’ metaphilosophy
Abstract
The story Emma Zunz is a rara avis in the production of Jorge Luis Borges in two ways. First, women are rarely the main protagonists in his fictions. Second, while Borges explores philosophical themes in a significant number of his stories and essays (and poems), ethical issues are hard to find. In this paper I propose a way of understanding Borges’ peculiar engagement with philosophical elements throughout his work, with some observations about the “Borgean metaphilosophy”. Following that framework, and comparing Emma Zunz as a character with other female characters in Borges, I argue that the ethical elements in the story Emma Zunz are better understood as shaping a heroine story more than as exploring ethical issues of justice, retribution and revenge.
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