French Literature Reviews - 2026
Arnaud de Champris, Borges, or the Labyrinths of the Word
Comparative and World Literature
Preface by Pierre Brunel, member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques.
There is a first reading of Borges—the one in which Arnaud de Champris detects in the creative act not, as in figure skating, a routine of compulsory figures, but rather figures that the author imposes upon himself. In this odyssey of the Borges palimpsest, which Arnaud de Champris unveils for us with the precision of a dream and the preciousness of its syntax, it is the hidden structure—incorporating all that pertains to style, that is, the finite metaphysical and theological ONE which has undergone stylistic refinement while touching upon human finitude—that becomes explicit here in the work of Borges.
Yet there is also an entire latent dimension in Borges’s craft which, as Arnaud de Champris shows us, forms a network analogous to the one animating quantum logic. The latter allows us to grasp the substance of "time-matter" (correlation, synchronicity, and entanglement specific to quantum logic). The formative waves of the structure (the fabric, or frame) of the Borges text generate, or at the very least restore, the logic reigning within the divine intellect. This dimension remains implicit.
Ultimately, Arnaud de Champris demonstrates that the primary intention of Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)—long a Nobel Prize contender, though never a recipient—is to convey to us that literature can be that space where the infinite is arithmetically and geometrically represented and metaphysically narrated. By exploring his work, he ultimately provides us with the key to the cipher, the logic of the infinite. Here is the book that explores the fireworks of Borges’s intellect with the utmost acuity and depth.
The creator of several television documentaries, a lecturer in "Public Policies" at the University of Paris, founder of a social science research consultancy, and consequently the author of hundreds of public policy evaluation reports, Arnaud de Champris (1958–2018) had served as cultural attaché to the French ambassador in Bogota between 1983 and 1985, prior to traveling extensively across Latin America. Yet it was the work and figure of Jorge Luis Borges that remained his ultimate passion.
Excerpt from the introduction…
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PDF Version: eEAN 9782745365477. 35 EUR.
Jorge Luis Borges occupies a singular position in twentieth-century literature, known for short stories, essays, and poems that engage deeply with philosophy, philology, and the fantastic. His writing frequently revisits themes of labyrinths, mirrors, infinite libraries, and the cyclical nature of time, drawing on a vast erudition spanning Western and Eastern traditions. Within Hispanic letters, his work represents a pivotal turning point that bridges modernist aesthetics with postmodern metafiction, influencing generations of writers across the globe who investigate the boundaries between reality and fiction.
Arnaud de Champris examines the intricate architecture of the Borges text, highlighting how style and metaphysical inquiry intersect within this universe. The study engages with notions of form, hidden structures, and the representation of the infinite, reflecting on how literary creation mirrors complex systems of thought. Readers interested in contemporary critical approaches to Latin American narrative and the interplay between literature, philosophy, and formal structures may find this volume relevant.