[Translator's preface by Paula C. Latorre Arroyo]

Abstract

In compliance with the M.A. degree requirements of the Graduate Program in Translation of the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras campus, the following essays were translated into English: “Creación literaria, crimen y ley: Jorge Luis Borges y ‘Emma Zunz’” and “El amor y el interés: Derecho patrimonial en Eugenia Grandet.” The author, Pedro J. Cabán Vales, is an Associate Professor at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico Law School. He has a Ph.D. in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid and a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras campus. Cabán is also currently completing an M.A. degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Puerto Rico. His expertise in law and his passion for literature are the primary reasons Cabán wrote the two texts chosen for this project. The essay “Creación literaria, crimen y ley: Jorge Luis Borges y ‘Emma Zunz’” was published in the Revista Jurídica of the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law, Vol. LIV (Aug–May 2019-2020). This text analyzes Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “Emma Zunz” and Argentine criminal law of the time to determine to what extent legal documents may have influenced Borges’ writing. Cabán discusses themes such as self-defense, pre-meditation, woman-centered narrative, and literary creation in the article. Meanwhile, in Honoré de Balzac’s novel Eugénie Grandet, Civil and Property Law concepts, such as matrimonial property regime, inheritance, mortgage, and bankruptcy, are at the plot’s core. For this reason, in the article “El Amor y el interés: Derecho Patrimonial en Eugenia Grandet,” Cabán analyzes these legal concepts in order to understand the novel more comprehensively. This other text was published by the Complutense University of Madrid Law School in the Revista de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales Foro, Vol. 24 (2021). Both texts discuss and analyze the particular role of the law within the works of prominent authors who have revolutionized literature as an artistic expression and field of study. Cabán connects law and literature in a way that makes the reader ponder the possible limits of societal codes and the use of creativity to explore those limits.