Editing Jorge Luis Borges (section)

===Borgesian conundrum===
The philosophical term "Borgesian conundrum" is named after him and has been defined as the ontological question of "whether the writer writes the story, or it writes him."<ref>{{cite news|title=Book review: 'The Thieves of Manhattan' by Adam Langer|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jul-18-la-ca-adam-langer-20100718-story.html|date=18 July 2010|author=Ella Taylor|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> The original concept was put forward by Borges in his essay "Kafka and His Precursors". After reviewing works that were written before those of Kafka, Borges wrote:{{blockquote|text=If I am not mistaken, the heterogeneous pieces I have enumerated resemble Kafka; if I am not mistaken, not all of them resemble each other. The second fact is the more significant. In each of these texts we find Kafka's idiosyncrasy to a greater or lesser degree, but if Kafka had never written a line, we would not perceive this quality; in other words, it would not exist. The poem [[s:Fears and Scruples|"Fears and Scruples"]] by [[Robert Browning|Browning]] foretells Kafka's work, but our reading of Kafka perceptibly sharpens and deflects our reading of the poem. Browning did not read it as we do now. In the critics' vocabulary, the word 'precursor' is indispensable, but it should be cleansed of all connotation of polemics or rivalry. The fact is that every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future."<ref>{{cite book|title=Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings|author=Jorge Luis Borges|page=201|date=1988|publisher=New Direction Books}}<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref>}}