Page 202 - World of Art Contemporary Art magazine: The 2023 Guggenheim issue

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

THE NAME OF THE WEB:
UMBERTO ECO’S INSIGHTS ON THE
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY AND FUTURE OF
THE ONLINE WORLD

UMBERTO ECO WAS A RENOWNED ITALIAN NOVELIST, LITERARY CRITIC,
PHILOSOPHER, AND SEMIOTICIAN. HE IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS HISTORICAL
MYSTERY NOVEL THE NAME OF THE ROSE, WHICH WAS ADAPTED INTO A
FILM AND A TV SERIES. HE ALSO WROTE OTHER ACCLAIMED WORKS SUCH AS
FOUCAULT’S PENDULUM, THE ISLAND OF THE DAY BEFORE, AND BAUDOLINO.
ECO WAS A MASTER OF INTERDISCIPLINARY AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE,
AS HE EXPLORED VARIOUS FIELDS OF KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURES IN HIS
WRITINGS. HE WAS ALSO A PROFESSOR OF SEMIOTICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
BOLOGNA AND A VISITING PROFESSOR AT SEVERAL PRESTIGIOUS UNIVERSITIES
AROUND THE WORLD. HE RECEIVED MANY HONORS AND AWARDS FOR HIS
CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY, AND CULTURE.
Some examples of Eco’s interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue are:
In The Name of the Rose, he combined elements of medieval history,
theology, philosophy, detective fiction, and postmodernism to create a
complex and captivating story set in a 14th-century Italian monastery.
In Foucault’s Pendulum, he delved into the history of occultism,
conspiracy theories, secret societies, and esoteric traditions from various
cultures and eras.
In The Island of the Day Before, he explored the themes of time, space,
navigation, cartography, and scientific discovery in the 17th century.
In Baudolino, he imagined a fictional biography of a 12th-century
adventurer who travels across Europe and Asia, encountering historical
figures and mythical creatures.
In his non-fiction works, such as The Open Work, The Role of the Reader,
and Six Walks in the Fictional Woods, he analyzed the relationship
between the author, the text, and the reader from different perspectives
and disciplines.
In his essays and lectures, such as Travels in Hyperreality, Kant and
the Platypus, and On Literature, he discussed various topics ranging
from mass media, culture industry, aesthetics, logic, linguistics, and
anthropology.
Eco was also an avid collector of books and cultural artifacts. He had a
personal library of about 50,000 volumes and a museum of over 30,000
items that reflected his eclectic interests and curiosity. He once said: "I
am a philosopher; I write novels only on the weekends". He was indeed
a master of interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue who enriched our
understanding of the world through his words and works.

200 WORLD of ART