The Library of Babel
E622053
The Library of Babel is a famous short story by Jorge Luis Borges that imagines an infinite, labyrinthine library containing every possible book, exploring themes of infinity, meaning, and the limits of knowledge.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
philosophical fiction
ⓘ
short story ⓘ work of fiction ⓘ |
| author | Jorge Luis Borges NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| centralConcept |
a library containing all possible combinations of characters
ⓘ
a universe conceived as a library ⓘ |
| containsConcept |
books of pure nonsense
ⓘ
books that might contain all truth ⓘ librarians as inhabitants of the universe ⓘ total library ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Argentina NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| firstPublicationYear | 1941 ⓘ |
| firstPublishedIn | Ficciones NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| genre |
metafiction
ⓘ
philosophical literature ⓘ short story ⓘ speculative fiction ⓘ |
| hasAdaptation |
various radio adaptations
ⓘ
various stage adaptations ⓘ |
| hasDigitalProjectInspiredBy | online Library of Babel project by Jonathan Basile NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasMotive |
quest for a catalog of the library
ⓘ
search for a meaningful book ⓘ |
| influenced |
digital library and archive metaphors
ⓘ
information theory discussions ⓘ literary theory ⓘ philosophy of language ⓘ |
| languageTheme | infinity ⓘ |
| literaryMovement |
Latin American literature
ⓘ
modernist literature ⓘ |
| narratorType | unnamed librarian ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | Spanish ⓘ |
| originalTitle | La biblioteca de Babel NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOf | Ficciones NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| philosophicalInfluence |
combinatorics
ⓘ
idealism ⓘ infinite sets ⓘ library as metaphor for the universe ⓘ |
| setting | an infinite library ⓘ |
| settingDescription | labyrinthine library containing every possible book ⓘ |
| structure | first-person narrative ⓘ |
| theme |
existential despair
ⓘ
infinity ⓘ meaning and meaninglessness ⓘ order and chaos ⓘ randomness and determinism ⓘ search for truth ⓘ the limits of knowledge ⓘ the nature of knowledge ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.