Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Tlon_Uqbar_Orbis_Tertius_by_Rikki.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jorge Luis Borges]]' short story has been widely translated. Here is the cover of a 1983 English edition designed by [[Rikki Ducornet]].]]

"'''Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius'''" is a [[short story]] by the [[20th century]] [[Argentina|Argentine]] writer [[Jorge Luis Borges]]. The story was first published (in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]) in the Argentine journal ''[[Sur]]'', May [[1940]]. The "postscript" dated [[1947]] is intended to be [[anachronism|anachronistic]], set seven years in the future. The first [[English language|English-language]] translation of the story was published in [[1961]].

In the story, an encyclopedia article about a mysterious country called ''[[Uqbar]]'' is the first indication of ''Orbis Tertius'', a massive conspiracy of intellectuals to imagine (and thereby create) a world: ''Tlön''. Relatively long for Borges (approximately 5600 words), the story is a work of [[speculative fiction]] with certain characteristics of [[magical realism]]. One of the major themes of "Tlön, Uqbar..." is that ideas ultimately manifest themselves in the physical world and the story is generally viewed as a [[parable|parabolic discussion]] of [[George Berkeley|Berkeleian]] [[idealism]] — and to some degree as a protest against [[totalitarianism]].