Early criticism about Borges centered on his poetry, and when he began to write essays, most critics preferred his poems. His works appeared primarily in the literary magazine Sur, which was a fledgling venture when he first contributed to its pages, but which later emerged as one of South American's most important venues for new Hispanic literature. Surprisingly, Borges gained national attention despite his apparent disinterest in his nation's turbulent political scene, in an era when Argentine writers proved their courage through polemical writing. He was also criticized for his literary games, and the fact that certain of his key phrases, themes, and devices tended to crop up again and again. Fellow Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato facetiously asked, "Will he be condemned from now on to plagiarize himself?" At least one compatriot recognized Borges' groundbreaking technique; Cesar Fernandez Moreno called him "a premature phenomenon of our...