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November 30, 2005
Borges
In “The Library of Babel,” Borges describes a universe of hexagonal rooms which interconnect and contain the content of every text ever written, plus all possible erroneous versions of these texts, as well as all possible combinations of utter gibberish. Without knowing which is which, the librarians have no way in which to discern that which has importance, and as such, without curatorial voice, all becomes meaningless gibberish.
For me, this brings to mind the childhood game Telephone, the problems encountered when translating content among languages, and the way a slight shift of word will incite a drastic shift in meaning. As eluded via the Babel reference, perhaps Borges would like us to view the Bible as such a text, passed down through time and language, evolving and changing via interpretation.
Posted by Demi Pietchell at November 30, 2005 12:01 AM