The premiere of "Borges and Me" at the Edinburgh International Film Festival brings to light a stark contrast in how movement is experienced across Europe. Jay Parini, whose 2020 memoir inspired the film, recounted his 1971 road trip around Scotland with Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. Parini, a student at the University of St Andrews in 1971, was able to avoid the Vietnam War by studying in Scotland, a privilege denied to countless others fleeing conflict today who face criminalisation at Europe's borders.
Parini's ability to move freely to escape a war, where one of his oldest friends died, underscores the deeply unequal nature of global mobility. While some can choose their refuge and pursue academic careers, others are met with pushbacks and detention. Borges, a significant 20th-century writer, also moved across Europe for his education and later served as director of Argentina’s national library. His journey through Scotland, visiting historic sites like the Carnegie Library in Dunfermline, highlights a world where cultural exchange could happen without the biometric surveillance and border walls that define today's Fortress Europe.
Contrasting Journeys
The film, shot entirely in Scotland with a local cast and crew, depicts Borges's desire to visit libraries and his imaginative journey as Don Quixote. This romanticised road trip, stopping at Lower Largo, Culloden, Loch Ness, and Dunfermline, stands in sharp relief to the perilous crossings undertaken by those seeking safety or opportunity today. People move for survival, opportunity, and safety, just as capital moves, yet only workers are criminalised for crossing lines that capital freely traverses. The film's narrative of personal discovery and artistic growth, as described by director Marc Turtletaub and Parini, is a luxury unavailable to those whose journeys are solely about survival.
Parini recalled Borges's interaction with an Encyclopaedia Britannica at the Carnegie Library. “I brought him the Encyclopaedia Britannica and he asked 'what year?' I said 'I think it's 1911'. He said: 'Oh, the best year for that Encyclopaedia. Give it to me!' And he takes it and starts licking the book and the little old librarian says 'you must not lick the book, sir. You must not lick the books',” Parini stated. This anecdote, while lighthearted, offers a glimpse into a time when cultural differences were met with mild amusement, not the systematic dehumanisation seen in today's asylum processing centres.
The Privilege of Culture
The film's creators hope it will remind people of the importance of world literature and Scotland’s place in it. Turtletaub noted that during filming in Glasgow, people recognised Borges, Alistair Reid, and George Mackay Brown. This celebration of literary figures and cultural heritage, however, often coexists with policies that actively exclude and demonise cultures and narratives from outside Europe's perceived boundaries. The EU's asylum system, for instance, has demonstrated a structural double standard, offering immediate temporary protection to Ukrainians while Syrians, Afghans, and Eritreans face pushbacks and prolonged detention.
"Borges and Me" focuses on a journey of intellectual and personal awakening, a narrative of self-discovery that is a stark contrast to the experiences of those navigating the brutal realities of Europe's border regime. The film's emphasis on a specific national identity, with its "all-Scottish crew" and "wonderful Scottish actors," further highlights the nationalistic framing that often underpins the exclusion of those deemed 'outsiders' by Fortress Europe.