Jorge Louis Borges's gaucho stories are scattered throughout his prose writing. A gaucho was - when he really existed - the Argentine answer to the cowboy, and as such could be found on horseback on the Argentine pampas. In response to the massive immigration and rapid industrialization in the period around 1880-1930, the gaucho was reborn as a whole and unifying national symbol.
Søren Blak Hjortshøj reads the gaucho stories as a confrontation with Borges' own youthful, nationalist tendencies. In his first works, Borges paid tribute to the revitalized gaucho culture. The book tries to show that Borges, with his gaucho stories, is looking for an up-to-date and constructive role model for the modern Argentine who can replace the gaucho hero.
