Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
14
CarloComanducci
Inthestory,ayoungpeasantnamedIreneoFunesisthrownolahorse.From
thatmomenton,hecanseeeverythingandremembereverythingthathasever
happenedtohiminthepast.Hecanperceiveandrecallnotonlyallaspectsofthe
physicalpresenceofobjects,butthewholehistoryoftheirmaterialrealityandofhis
ownexperiencingofthem:
KWe,inaglance,perceivethreewineglassesonthetable,’Borgeswrote,KFunessawall
theshoots,clusters,andgrapesofthevine.Herememberedtheshapesofthecloudsin
thesouthatdawnonthe30thofAprilof1882,andhecouldcomparetheminhisrecol-
lectionwiththemarbledgraininthedesignofaleather-boundbookwhichhehadseen
onlyonce,andwiththelinesinthespraywhichanoarraisedintheRioNegroonthe
eveofthebattleoftheQuebracho.’(1962:112)
KIhavemorememoriesinmyselfalonethanallmenhavehadsincetheworld
wasaworld,’Funessaysabouthisnewfoundreality.Butalso:KMymemory.
.
.is
likeagarbagedisposal’(ibid.).Significantly,afterhisaccident,Funesalsolosesthe
useofhislegs,sothatheremainsforeverconfinedtoabed,hisverylifereduced
torecollection.HebecomesKthesolitaryandlucidspectatorofamultiformworld
.
.
.instantaneouslyandalmostintolerablyexact’(ibid.114).Atthesametime,
Funeslosesthecapacitytothink—hehasnouseforit,actually,for,asBorgeswrote,
Ktothinkistoforgetadilerence,togeneralise,toabstract’(ibid.115),whilefor
Funes,thesefunctionsaresupplantedwithendlessenumerationsandhisboundless
capacitytorecall.
Intheserespects,Borges’scharactermayremindus,usersofcomputertechnol-
ogiesandconsumersoffictionsoncybernetics,ofthewayanandroidoranartifi-
cialintelligencemightperceivetheworld.Funes,indeed,isendowedwithapower
ofperceptionakinorevensuperiortothatofthephotographicimage,andhas
acapacityofstoringexperienceasinformationandofretrievingitcomparableonly
tothatofadigitalarchive.KWhatheoncemeditatedwouldnotbeerased,’Borges
wroteabouthim(ibid.113).LiketheFreudianunconscious,wherenothingislost,
likeanetworkcontainingandcontrollingallinformation,Funesbecomes,then,
amemorioussubject—theincarnationofthefantasyofanintegralpreservationof
thepast,ofamemorywithoutforgetfulness,ofaperceptionwithoutshadows(Pon-
talis2012:40)and,thus,ofasubjectivitywithoutlack.
Funesloses,atthesametime,theforgetfulnessofmemoryandthecapacityfor
actionthatitentails.Forgetfulness,though,isnotforgetting.Tereis,infact,afor-
gettingbeyondforgetfulness—ofwhichtheAlzheimer’sdiseaseisprobablythemost
disruptiveandhauntingform.Andthereisaforgetfulnessbeyondforgetting,inthat
everyactofmemory,everysouvenir,isnotastaticcluster,butratherresultsfrom
day-to-daycontingentassociations,madeandunmadeinourengagementwithoth-
ersandtheworld.Memoryexistsintheflowofwords,ofimages,ofbrushstrokes
orsounds.Itisalwayspartiallylostandneverentirelyfoundinrepresentation,and
youneverknowforsureatanygivenmomentwhatexactlyisbeinglost,andwhat
