Bataillean Heterology and Border: The Heterogeneity of the Border in the Imaginary of The Captive

Abstract

The Argentine imaginary of the border between civilization and barbarism is interpreted based on Georges Bataille’s Heterology, conceived as a science of what is inassimilable to social homogeneity and any form of technical or theoretical appropriation of the world. The border is conceived as an element of heterogeneity that intimately communicates the absolute heterogeneity of “barbarism” with the homogeneity of “civilization.” This border is approached through the fictional and historical figure of The captive in E. Echeverría’s version and in its Borgesian reworking. Finally, the heterological relationship between two societies implied in the “border heterogeneity” is highlighted as a contribution to Bataillean Heterology, limited to the analysis of a single society.