Jorge Luis Borges' extensive fantasy writings have been read as a critique of traditional science and logic and as a repudiation of the individual's importance, of the presumption of reality itself, and, consequently, of the forms of knowledge accessible to us. The article presents a new way of understanding Borges' poetic narrative, evincing this narrative's ability to grasp cultural phenomenon from a scientific perspective. An analogy is drawn between Borges' poetic narrative and memetics, the latter being an attempt to interpret human nature in terms not only of genes but also of memes - that is, ideas understood as cultural patterns. Although any literary work is a vehicle for ideas, Borges, who writes in an extraordinarily critical fashion, seems particularly aware of the independence of ideas and therefore, the article asserts, his characters can be seen as prisoners inside labyrinths of memes.
fantastic narrative; memetics; teleology; natural sciences; efficient causes