За литературата

by Umberto Eco, Мария Панева (превод от италиански език)

Този сборник съдържа слова, предназначени като цяло за една доста широка публика, които се въртят около функциите на литературата, около автори, с които Еко отдавна се занимава, като Джойс, Борхес (но и Аристотел, и Данте), около влиянието на някои малко или много литературни текстове върху развитието на исторически събития, върху някои типични проблеми на разказването като вербалното представяне на пространството, интертекстуалната ирония, природата на възможните светове на фикцията и някои ключови понятия като символа и стила. В някои от тези есета, и особено в последното – „Как пиша”, Еко избира за пример и обект на размишление собствената си работа на разказвач, но и в есетата, в които не говори пряко за себе си, хвърля светлина върху литературните си похвати. Писания случайни, наистина, но които разкриват една поредица от интереси, непрекъснато връщане към самите източници на вдъхновение. Писания, които дори когато се връщат към темите и проблемите на семиотиката на литературата, развиват разсъждения, без да прибягват до техницизми, а идеите извират от една завладяваща паноплия от конкретни примери.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Literary Criticism, Literature, Books About Books, Writing, Philosophy

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Umberto Eco was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory, as well as Foucault's Pendulum, his 1988 novel which touches on similar themes.

Eco wrote prolifically throughout his life, with his output including children's books, translations from French and English, in addition to a twice-monthly newspaper column "La Bustina di Minerva" (Minerva's Matchbook) in the magazine L'Espresso beginning in 1985, with his last column (a critical appraisal of the Romantic paintings of Francesco Hayez) appearing 27 January 2016. At the time of his death, he was an Emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, where he taught for much of his life. In the 21st century, he has continued to gain recognition for his 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism", where Eco lists fourteen general properties he believes comprise fascist ideologies.

Reviews

[Luís · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recent death of Umberto Eco prompted me to borrow one of his essays, "On Literature." The author is well-positioned to discuss it. He has published novels of significant importance and has devoted more thought to writing than anyone else. Eco is a scholar, and his intelligence is subtle. The book in question is, in reality, a collection of lessons and lectures that the author delivered in various settings. Each has a particular subject: the critical study of one or more famous authors, recurring themes in literature, or even the work of Eco itself. All these brilliant reflections are often challenging to understand, far from it. They may even discourage the reader. But, even if we only grabbed half of it, it would be alright.
I was very interested in the chapters devoted to authors for whom I have a particular preference. For example, the book evokes the work of J.-L. Borges (whose author is a great admirer) in two texts of great depth. But the most exciting part of the collection is the chapter "How I write." The writer explains precisely how he conceived his novels, matured and prepared them (at great length), and set their tone and rhythm: it's fascinating. It allows us better to understand the final result of his immense labor: his completed novels, as we readers discover them.

[Scribble Orca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seen this film by Luc Besson?

A 21 hour plane trip is usually the only chance I have to watch a few films. The last long journey I made offered such a dismal selection that for this trip I was already packed with every single one of those books on my 'currently reading' list and determined to finish each (and write a review) whilst on the first and longest leg of my two sector flight.

The best laid plans of ants and a person.

I decided to start with Umberto Eco, and following my fickle habit, I opened his book at random. Oh yes, I'd already read the first few essays, and jumped ahead to the last two, so now I was left with the real guts of the book, what lay between its covers.

At this point you might be asking yourself why would a self-professed I-am-not-a-literary critic bother with Eco's On Literature ? The answer roams around and finally arrives at this: in a prior romantic incarnation, I'd been given The Name of the Rose by my one-time lover and told to "broaden my mind". Eco exploded my mind. Don't ask me why - I'm excellent at remembering my feelings, and a disaster at remembering the reasons. But as an attempt: it had something to do with the allure of Europe (still to be explored), mediaeval history (I know very little), mystery (yes, please) and double entendre (which I probably didn't realise, and still don't).

At some point after that I read Foucault's Pendulum , in that miserable after-life one endures for a while when a relationship implodes. Eco impressed me still more. I stranded myself within The Island of the Day Before and came to an abrupt and crashing halt in the first pages of Baudolino . Eeyyuuwwhh. What happened, Mr Eco? We'd been enjoying such a lovely dalliance until you stuffed your character with his testicles and paraded him naked through the streets lined with a screaming mob baying for his blood. The allegory lost me. And so did Eco.

Until one day a few weeks ago I was browsing in a little bookshop in the bowels of the Dandy Mall located on Cairo-Alexandria Road just at the toll-gates exiting Greater Cairo. It's usually a safe bet for kids' books, and as serendipity would have it, On Literature happened to be falling from the top of a Pisa pile of books. I picked it up and rifled though it, curious, with that nonchalant distance time delights in using to craze the patina of a by-gone affair. Something hooked me and now I know why. But I needed a film, which I've just finished watching, to put On Literature into perspective, to show me how Eco's thoughts relate to a modern interpretation and playful satire on our popular film culture.

Following my re-acquaintance with Mr Eco (we're both too old now for that first flush of infatuation), I needed a change of scene. Unlike previous lacklustre film offerings, this flight had a dazzling array - Italian, German, Japanese, Indian, not too mention two gorgeous sounding filmed operas Das Rheingold and Le Nozze di Figaro. The Social Network was also premiering (and to keep the peace with my partner, I agreed to watch it - and I recommend it also) but the description of Luc Besson's eccentric-sounding film hooked me as my first choice.

If you haven't seen it, and I recommend you do, The Extraordinary Adventures of Miss Adele Blanc-Sec is the perfect visual example of Mr Eco's thoughts on how literature informs itself and makes itself culturally apt for the audience of each age. Umberto Eco is no true intellectual literary snob. He may deplore the use of dictionally inappropriate language, metaphor, allegory, but he welcomes the evolution of expression, the directness of unloaded language. "In a world where the man in the street cannot speak, even the poet must remain silent."p.157.

Signposts (note Eco cautions against the use of the word 'symbol') abound throughout the film, in a funny, fantastic, bizarre way. It demonstrates the intertextual irony of which Eco writes - if you don't know what happened to the Titanic, you won't understand the fate of our heroine, Ms Blanc-Sec (or Dry-White (as in wine), if you prefer English - see what I mean?). If you haven't read Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, the use of a pterodactyl will seem as good a choice as any for a creature hatched from a prehistoric egg and which apparently informs the design of our modern feathered friends. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkahban receives due homage in a daring flight of rescue, and Ms Blanc-Sec herself seems an intrepid heroine without our knowing that she is pre-dated by Indiana Jones and Lara Croft.

The noir of the film is all French, all Besson. Eco notes how our interaction with a text is never devoid of our own circumstances - any reading of a book on its own merits, without acknowledging how our personal experiences inform how we respond to a book is, at best, naive. Having lived in Paris (I recommed a sub-titled version if you don't speak French, rather than dubbed) and being familiar with Besson's cinematic style only made my experience of this film richer. But Besson doesn't exclude; just as Eco postulates, writing weaves meaning at more than one level of sophistication, so even if you haven't lived in or visited Paris for any length of time, this film will still appeal.

Like Eco the fiction writer, Besson is a director who dares cross established genre borders and upsets both sides of the establishment (commercial vs indie) as well as the Atlantic (US vs Eureopean). But he never loses sight of his primary goal. Regardless of his delight in pushing the envelope, Besson focusses on entertaining his audience. And that is the point of the tantalisingly brief last essay of Eco's collection: avoid the narcissism of writing for oneself.

"There is only one thing that you write for yourself, and that is a shopping list....Every other thing that you write, you write to say to something to someone....One writes only for a reader. Whoever says (s)he writes only for (her)himself is not necessarily lying. It is just...frighteningly atheistic. Even from a rigourously secular point of view....desperate (is) the writer who cannot address a future reader."p.334.

Eco, in his essay on the anxiety of influence (pp.118-135), acknowledges himself to be the inept musician replaying his version of the melodies belonging to those to whom he owes the debt of influence. That sense of awe he holds for Borges 'limpidly classical' style, I have for his lyrically contemporary own.

And so I encourage anyone who feels as I do, a flea clinging to the coat-tails of the geniuses of narrative who have soared before us: to paraphrase the words of two GR friends for whom I have the utmost respect, write your words, your music, your scripts, for your audience, who will be uplifted and inspired and re-affirmed by what we strive to re-create, just as we have been by our own masters.

[Katya]

Ler Umberto Eco, na sua vertente não ficcional (mas também ficcional), prossupõe toda uma bagagem intelectual e literária absolutamente espantosa. Além disso, as suas paixões mais evidentes ficam muito claras nos seus discursos e, se a semiótica, Borges e Joyce não constam das nossas áreas de estudo ou recreação, o melhor é adiar a leitura destes ensaios para mais tarde (ou quiçá nunca).

Num conjunto de reflexões em que aborda estilo, formas de narrativa, influência, símbolo (etc etc) e toda uma miríade de assuntos pertinentes ao autor e a qualquer leitor curioso (quer se arrependa ou não após a sua leitura), Eco aborda também questões mais pessoais da sua atividade de escritor - neste plano nivelando-se mais com os leitores - como receios, ambições e práticas.

Faz uma leitura interessante, mas exigente. De todo um divertimento, mas antes um exercício de faculdades várias e de memória para regressar a muitos e muitos títulos e escritores, lidos e por ler, que desfilam por estas páginas.


"Eu tenho algumas experiências que creio serem comuns a quem quer que possua muitíssimos livros (eu agora tenho cerca de quarenta mil, entre Milão e as minhas outras casas) e considera uma biblioteca não só um lugar onde conservar os livros já lidos, mas sobretudo um armazém de livros a ler um dia ou outro, quando se sentir a sua necessidade. Ora acontece que sempre que o olho recai sobre um livro ainda não lido se é atacado pelo remorso.
Só que chega depois um dia em que, para se saber alguma coisa sobre um certo assunto, nos decidimos finalmente a abrir um dos muitos livros jamais lido, começamos a lê-lo e apercebemo-nos de que já o conhecíamos. O que aconteceu? Existe a explicação místico-biológica, que com o passar do tempo deslocando os livros, limpando-lhes o pó e arrumando-os de novo, através das pontas dos dedos a essência do livro terá penetrado pouco a pouco na nossa mente. Há a explicação do scanning casual e continuado: com o passar do tempo, ao manusearmos e arrumarmos os vários volumes, não é que nunca se espreite para um livro; mesmo só ao mexer-lhe, passava-se us olhos por algumas páginas, uma hoje, uma o mês que vem,e pouco a pouco acabou-se por lê-lo em grande parte, embora de modo não linear. Mas a explicação é que, entre o momento em que esse livro nos chegou às mãos e o momento em que o abrimos, se leram outros livros, nos quais havia algo que já dizia aquele primeiro livro, e portanto, no fim desta longa volta intertextual, descobre-se que este livro que não tínhamos lido também faz parte do nosso património mental e talvez nos tivesse profundamente influenciado."
127

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's an essay in this collection titled "On Camporesi: Blood, Body, Life." In it, Eco writes about Piero Camporesi, who in his writing apparently "invites us to look inside ourselves" -- not just emotionally, but viscerally, in terms of blood and body. Eco finds this very strange, unique, and suggests -- perhaps sarcastically, but I doubt it -- that you read it in small doses. It's too real, this guy's writing, you see: you probably can't handle it all at once.

And that, in a nutshell, is why reading Eco is such a frickin bore: this guy is all brain, no blood.

I've read pretentious, self-absorbed literary essayists before -- Eco takes the cake. Even Harold Bloom has more joy and openness in his writing -- Eco, when he's not writing extensively about his own fiction as if it tops all else (seriously!), is more semiotics professor than reader. Fine -- but you can't take the blood out of literature and expect readers to connect with you. I can picture having to read essays from On Literature in a university class, but I wouldn't take any seriously: they're too self-indulgent, too ivory-towery, to be useful in today's literary climate. Things have changed -- the old canon-obsessed white guys don't hack it anymore.

The writing itself is repetitive, verbose, and excessive -- too many examples listed, not enough meat to any argument. Most of the essays could have been chopped by half, others didn't need to be written at all (the one about falsehood in texts and how it's not bad?? everyone already knew that??). I guess I liked "On Style" best, but there were exactly two things that interested me beyond that. The first was the discussion on formal stopgaps (in "The Flaws in the Form"), which was a cool perspective on how our brains automatically flip past phrases like "he said" when reading, and how the writer can use this to their advantage (or, at least, accept it as inevitable -- not every sentence can or should be beautiful). The second was the process of creating novels through 'seminal ideas' (in "How I Write"), but I got more out of Steve Erickson talking about that concept for 3 seconds in a YouTube interview so..

Anyway: if you read for blood, I'd say avoid. Get an Alberto Manguel collection instead. I have two Eco novels somewhere on my shelves and I'm debating chucking 'em -- he and I are just not in the literary world for the same reasons.

[Milan Trpkovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trebalo je vremena i napora da se pročita ova knjiga. Na momente je Eko brilijantno opisivao stvari i pojave iz domena književnosti, da bi na momente tj. tekstove upadao uneki, čini mi se, njemu svojstven filozofski svet za koji treba poprilično koncentracije.
Otvorio mi je vrata za Borhesa, čija dela planiram da čitam u narednom periodu.

[Stela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questo è il mio primo tentativo di scrivere una recensione in italiano, soprattutto per rispettare la mia decisione di scrivere "i review" nella lingua in cui ho letto l’opera. Chiedo scusa a priori per le goffaggini stilistiche e ringrazio molto la mia carissima amica che ha avuto pazienza di leggere in anticipo questo testo (però non questa nota in cui gli errori sono tutti miei!)


Cominciando con un’opinione generale su Alcune funzioni della letteratura per finire con un resoconto personale e dettagliato di Come scrivo, Sulla letteratura è una raccolta di “saggi Bompiani” che ci invita a una passeggiata nei boschi della cultura universale, senza un ordine apparente. Dico apparente, perché c’è un “sopra tema” che unisce i capitoli: la ricezione dell’opera che rivela maschere e atteggiamenti dei lettori, divisi dall’autore in due categorie: di primo livello, diciamo semantico, di chi vuole sapere come la storia vada finire e di secondo livello, diciamo semiotico o estetico, di chi vuole sapere come accada ciò che è stato raccontato.

Ovviamente, Umberto Eco si rivolge alla seconda categoria quando identifica, per esempio, la principale funzione educativa della letteratura, che non sarebbe quella morale (certo che no!), nemmeno quella estetica (ah, no?), ma quella… ontologica : cioè l’opera ci educa "al Fato e alla morte", all'idea d'irreversibilità del destino, come irreversibile e immodificabile è il destino di un Edipo, di una Bovary, malgrado tutto ipertesto che cercherebbe di cambiarli.

Tutti gli articoli, benché di valore ineguale, hanno un incanto speciale, grazie probabilmente al ritmo narrativo sostenuto, proprio di un Eco sempre fedele alla sua decisione di fare di ogni saggio critico una narrazione (le difficoltà che io devo riconoscere di aver provato a volte sono state di origine lessicale piuttosto che semantica!).

Geniale mi è sembrata l’immagine di Joyce e Borges come se prendessero la cultura universale per un terreno di gioco dove Joyce dribbla con le parole, mentre Borges con le idee (Tra La Mancha e Babele).

Stessa opinione superlativa a proposito del saggio sull’ironia intertestuale, che non sarebbe proprio un’ironia, ma piuttosto un’allusione culturale (Ironia intertestuale e livelli di lettura).

A parte le informazioni intriganti (e non sempre conosciute) sulle grandi frodi della Storia, ho avuto il piacere di scoprire un primo schizzo del romanzo Il cimitero di Praga nel saggio La forza del falso.

D’altra parte, se posso capire la sua ammirazione per lo stile del Manifesto di Karl Marx, devo ammettere di non condividerla ☺. Conosco talmente bene (per averla vissuta) quell’alternanza (che Eco ammira tanto) tra gli slogan e le spiegazioni che ne sono davvero stufa! Ecco un buon esempio di ragionamento preconcetto.

Per finire, prevedo che, dopo aver letto lo studio su Wilde non riuscirei più a leggere un aforisma senza verificare se è “cancrizzabile” oppure no. Comunque, non concordo con l’opinione che l’opera di Wilde sia fatta di questo tipo di aforismi. Come ho detto un’altra volta, se si tiene conto della sua estetica che proclama la superiorità dell’arte sulla vita, i suoi aforismi non possono più essere rovesciati senza perdere il loro senso essenziale.

Un altro viaggio molto piacevole con un grande autore… (perché siamo chiarissimi, mi raccomando: ho dato tre stelline rispetto alla sua opera e solo alla sua opera - non tenterò mai di paragonarlo agli altri - Umberto Eco è unico, incomparabile nella critica e teoria letteraria come nella finzione! ☺) Un viaggio in cui talora l'ho visto perorare davanti a un pubblico affascinato, talora ho sentito le modulazioni della sua voce, talora ho seguito i suoi gesti, talora ho intercettato il suo sguardo complice attraverso una fine ironia... benché io Umberto Eco non l'abbia visto mai!

[Gabriella Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eco tiene sus cosas. A veces es arrogante, a veces peca de localista (su listado interminable de referencias a la literatura italiana clásica es de difícil acceso para los que no somos de allí). Y este libro requiere de por lo menos unas nociones básicas de teoría y crítica literaria. Si nunca has oído hablar de Jakobson, Barthes o Lotman, posiblemente tengas problemas con estos ensayos. Algunos son bastante técnicos y requieren de ciertos conocimientos previos.

Pero el esfuerzo siempre merece la pena: la sabiduría de este hombre es apabullante. Si eres escritor o lector, encontrarás revelaciones y profundidades que no habrías imaginado. Siempre digo que un solo ensayo de Eco vale por cien libros de moda de "creative writing". Enfréntate a él y dale una oportunidad: tal vez lo conozcas como novelista, pero su relevancia para el mundo de la ficción va mucho más allá. Conceptos como el asidero de pertinencia, el lector de segundo nivel o la doble codificación podrían cambiar totalmente tu forma de escribir y de entender la lectura.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

God, what a bore.

[Arun Divakar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Umberto Eco has been an author whose works I have been trying to finish albeit unsuccessfully for quite some time now. I have tried twice to finish 'Name of the rose' but gave up half way in the process for want of a better reason. Foucault's Pendulum was no better either. The books seemed to mock me ' you need to read much better than this to get to us, boyo !!' was what they seemed to tell me. Every time at the library I pause at the rack on Eco's books and think "Should I ? or Should I not ? " but this time I picked up this set of essays and it paid off in a way of its own.

Reading this book was like getting to a Labyrinthine library of some volumes which I had not even heard of before. Once in the library Eco sets a brisk pace and walking along you see spines of books that bring vague but interesting recollections to the mind. Eco talks at length of James Joyce, the aphorisms of Oscar Wilde, the influence of Borges in his works and so forth. Language and literature becomes a test sample to him which he slices and dices with relish. The parts on symbolism i skipped for i was never much a taker for it. But the most interesting part to me was the final essay on Eco himself and his writing style as a whole, pretty interesting considering the otherwise serious topics he chooses for the rest of the book.

Recommending the book would be a dicey affair...if you are not in the right mood for some really in depth critical reading on literature this would bore you out of your skull...as it did to me on some days ...

[Dimitris · Rating 5 out of 5]

These speeches on Literature that make up this book were perhaps the most difficult thing I've ever read. Many things I didn't understand, but many others left me in awe. 4 stars therefore, plus 1 for the Greek translator. I can't even begin to comprehend what knowledge is needed to perform this task!

[Nikola Jankovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eseji o književnosti, knjigama i čitanju. Na žalost, dosta se razlikuju po interesantnosti za prosečnog čitaoca kakav sam. Dobiješ osećaj da su neki pisani za elitistički krug i govore o temama za koje ne samo da moraš biti načitan, već i imati toliko vremena da pojedine knjige čitaš i čitaš nekoliko puta, kako bi postao "uzoran čitalac, koji ih razume na svim nivoima".

Ako ništa drugo, postalo mi je jasno koliko površno čitamo ponekad, čak i kad nam se čini da smo potpuno udubljeni i fokusirani. Osim toga, ima nekoliko eseja (o intertekstualnoj ironiji, Borhesu i "Kako pišem"), zbog kojih vredi pročitati ovo delo.

[Quiver · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ever erudite Umberto Eco. The fan will find much to learn from this collection; the others might find the occasional gem but also the occasional drudging essay. Particularly noteworthy are 'Borges and My Anxiety of Influence', which gives the clearest discussion of how literary influence flows and in which direction, and 'Intertextual Irony and Levels of Reading', which discusses the palimpsestic nature of any text.

[Φώτης Καραμπεσίνης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Εξαιρετικό δειγμα δοκιμίων, ιδίως εκείνα που έχουν άμεση σχέση με την κριτική, τουλάχιστον όσο αφορά εμένα.
Διαβάζεται ευχάριστα, καθότι γραμμένο με λογοτεχνικό τρόπο.
Προφανώς ο Εκο ήταν πρώτιστα διανοούμενος, φιλόσοφος, και δευτερευόντως λογοτέχνης, έχοντας γράψει ένα εξαιρετικό πρώτο βιβλίο, ένα πολύ καλό δεύτερο και στη συνέχεια αδιάφορα κείμενα.

[Georgina Koutrouditsou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Μοναδικός,απλά!
Καταπιάνεται (σχεδόν) με τα πάντα και σε κάνει να ψαχτείς ακόμα περισσότερο!
Λόγου χάρη ξέρατε πως το "Κεφάλαιο" του Μαρξ μπορεί να χαρακτηριστεί και από λογοτεχνικής πλευράς;
Νομίζω ότι απλά είναι ένας από τους λίγους Δασκάλους..και εμείς τυχεροί μαθητές του!

[Marián Tabakovič · Rating 4 out of 5]

Náročná kniha. Ale, ako povedal sám Eco, “čtení není žádný piknik”.

Najprístupnejší a pre mňa najzaujímavejší text je na konci. Prezrádza v ňom, ako a prečo písal svoje romány. Ako sa dalo čakať, Meno ruže nevzniklo len preto, že mal chuť "otrávit nějakého mnicha" :)

[erigibbi]

O sono molto ignorante io - e mi sa di sì - o Eco la fa terribilmente difficile con paroloni e ventimila subordinate. Ma quanto ne sapeva! Innegabile.

[Jean Tessier · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a collection of essays written by Umberto Eco for various conferences.

On Some Functions of Literature (2000)

Literature keeps language alive. It creates a shared body of stories and characters. Different authors each given them their own spin, but their core is part of the collective consciousness.

A Reading of the Paradiso (2000)

Paradiso is about light, which was an important concept to medieval readers and thinkers. Cathedrals are all about different kinds of light. We don't pay as much attention to the quality light anymore; and it lessens our ability to truly appreciate the text as much as it was when it was written.

On the Style of The Communist Manifesto (1998)

The format and structure of the Manifesto is a great sample of packing a lot of power in a concise space. It has all the drama and plot twists of the best narratives.

The Mists of the Valois (1999)

How the imperfect tense can lead to enough fuzziness about the action to leave the reader in perpetual mists and create an atmosphere more felt than any feelings explicitly expressed in words. This effect can then be reinforced and amplified by various narrative techniques.

Wilde: Paradox and Aphorism (2000)

An aphorism is a maxim that is witty and which appears to be true. It expresses something commonplace. A paradox is a maxim that is witty and appears false at first glance, but reveals a deeper truth upon further examination. To tell them apart, reversing an aphorism produces something that still makes sense, whereas reversing a paradox yields nonsense.

A Portrait of the Artist as Bachelor (1991)

How James Joyce's style and literary pursuits were already well established by the time he graduated from college.

Between La Mancha and Babel (1997)

How Joyce and Borges try to re-invent language, each in their own way. Joyce by looking at all permutations of symbols. Borges by looking at all permutations of ideas.

Another interesting piece is how in Don Quixote, the story starts when the main character leaves a library to discover the world outside. In one of Borges' novels, the main character enters a Library of Babel to escape from the world outside and experience reality through books.

Borges and My Anxiety of Influence

Sometimes, an author borrows an idea from another author. Sometimes, an author develops an idea from the general context, not knowing that another author has also expressed the same idea too. Some times, an author develops an idea from the general context, not knowing that another author was directly responsible for putting it there.

On Camporesi: Blood, Body, Life (1995)

Camporesi was a cultural anthropologist who studied texts for cultural artifacts, studying the underbelly of civilization.

On Symbolism (1994)

Symbolism as understood by the scholastic philosophers. There is the perceived world of phenomena and the world of ideals hiding behind it. In this way, everything is a symbol that stands for an ideal which we cannot perceive directly.

On Style (1995)

Style is how a work of art is put together. Eco identifies three ways of studying style. In a review, the writer tells the reader about a book the reader has not yet read and impose the writer's judgment. A history of literature discusses works that the reader already knows. In both cases, the writer can do artifex additus artifici (an artist writing about an artist) where he explains how he felt as he produced the work of art. Or he can do philosophus additus artifici (a philosopher writing about an artist) where he explains why a given work of art is beautiful. The third way of studying style is the semiotic reading in which the writer shows how the work of art produces pleasure, rather then prescribing what gives pleasure.

Les Sémaphores sous la Pluie (1996)

How a writer relies on some common images or experiences shared with the reader. If the reader does not share a given image or experience, part of what the writer was trying to communicate will get deformed or lost.

The Flaws in the Form

Elements in the structure of a text. If the work of art arises from the whole of the composition and how the parts all fit together, then which parts essential? Does it mean that everything else just fodder? Will the art still arise if we remove those non-essential parts. And what about stopgaps, small particles that enhance the flow of the work and assure its stability?

Intertextual Irony and Levels of Reading (1999)

Draws heavily on Eco's Reflections on "The Name of the Rose." Eco is a big fan of layering multiple levels of meaning in his prose. The reader can choose which level they latch on when interpreting a text. Not all readers can access all levels of a text. Some of them require specific knowledge to fully grasp them. But missing out on one level should not keep the reader from appreciating others.

The Poetics and Us (1990)

The influence of Aristotle's Poetics. Notions of pragma (action) and mythos (plot) and how they apply to the many forms of story-telling.

The American Myth in Three Anti-American Generations (1980)

Disregarding American politics, American literature of the late 19th and early 20th Century appealed to European intellectuals. The American it portrayed was open and free and devoid of all the barriers and structures that were so limiting on the Old World.

The Power of Falsehood (1994)

How lies and fakes have played pivotal roles in the history of the Western World. The Donation of Constantin solidified the power of the Catholic Church in Rome and was the basis of the power of the Papacy from the fall of Rome to modern times. The letter of Prester John motivated the West's exploration and expansion into the East.

How I Write (1996)

Eco's own quirky approach to writing his novels. It focuses on The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum, and The Island of the Day Before, with some bits about Baudolino. He describes parts that were essential to him which I do not remember at all. Makes me want to re-read all his novels. Right now.

[Alena Gradoboeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Полтора года - и вуаля. Но это Умберто эко и его мысль. С наскока такое не осязается.
Есть эссе, которые я пролистала, так как не знакома с произведениями, вокруг которых они построены. Но большинство внимательно прочитала и перечитала.

[Adéla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tohle je taková zajímavá sbírka esejů, protože je tak různorodá, ze je těžké knihu číst jako celek. Přitom ta nejzajímavější - o vlastním psaní autora - se nachází až na konci. Některé texty jsou naprosto pohlcující, některé naopak vůbec (to je samozřejmě zcela subjektivní a může se lišit). Největším přínosem je vhled do myšlení a práce Umberta Eca, který do každého eseje vloží kousek ze sebe a často mluví o svých zážitcích, přes texty působí jako milej chlap.

PS: Na knize je poznat, že vyšla léta před covidem, krizí a nedostatkem papíru, protože takhle fancy papír je dnes snad nelegální.

[Gabriel Llagostera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantan los artículos de Eco. El tipo escribe con sencillez sobre temas vinculados a la literatura. No vende humo y es muy esclarecedor.

Probablemente aparezcan más libros de Eco por acá.

[Ale Rivero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casi dos meses me llevó esta lectura, al ser todos ensayos de diversos temas relacionados con el mundo literario, necesitan su tiempo para ser leídos y procesados.
En general no me encantó del todo, por eso la nota, pero hay algunos en concreto que me gustaron mucho: "Lectura del Paraíso", "La fuerza de lo falso" y "Cómo escribo", este último resume un poco la vida del autor como escritor.
Creo que lo disfrutaría mucho más alguien que esté en una situación de estudio o cercanía con los temas que va tratando, algunos se refieren a características de las obras de ciertos autores -Alighieri, Joyce, etc.- y otros son más teóricos, haciendo alusión a temas que importan al momento de crear obras literarias de cualquier índole.

[Imran Kazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Eco is brilliant, clear and factual on all things he has to say. Some of the articles requires understanding of Italian literature or classical literature which I skipped because my lack of knowledge. But those on symbolism, perception of American culture in Italy, and particularly 'How I write?' and the 'The power of falsehood' were superb. The last two are actually pretty necessary to understand Eco's novels and the ideas from which they germinated.

[Fabián Tapia Quintero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantó.
Eco desborda sabiduría en torno a la literatura, el lenguaje y la potencia de las letras.

[Gorab]

DNF after reading 5/18 essays. I'm not qualified to read this.

Not only you should have read the popular classics (which i haven't), you must be thorough with them to understand the dissection and thought process presented here.

I enjoyed reading the essay on Wilde paradoxes. Rest everything went way above my head.

Overall:
It's a good reference material. Scholarly. Eclectic. Too heavy to be read cover to cover.

[Helie]

Quote I hated: "the wretches who roam around aimlessly in gangs and kill people by throwing stones from a highway bridge or setting fire to a child—whoever these people are—turn out this way ... because they are excluded from the universe of literature and from those places where, through education and discussion, they might be reached by a glimmer from the world of values that stems from and sends us back again to books."

[Polly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poetic, informative and well-written bits of this book are unnecessarily spoiled by nearly incomprehensible, Ivory Tower babbling. I don't doubt Eco's erudition and knowledge. What I do doubt is his ability to make that knowledge accessible to others.

[Viktor Slavchev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Считам това за програмна книга за всеки, който има дори малко отношение към литературата. Текстът има огромна стойност, не само ако искате да разберете как Умберто Еко създава художествения си свят, но и като заход към лингвистиката и литературната теория.

[Ilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"On Literature" opened my eyes to the horizons of literary criticism. (Caveat: I knew nothing about lit-crit then, and still know next to nothing about it now.)

Eco combines several essays - each focused on one book (most of which I still haven't read) and on a particularly striking aspect of this book.

Reading "On Literature", you are led into the dark and imposing forest of literature and suddenly realize that it's not as tangled and incomprehensible as you imagined.

One of the essays explores the power of space and movement in a narrative. I did not realize that a skilled writer can use the word almost as a movie camera - moving it in space, zooming in or zooming out, changing the angle and the way the situation is presented. It was rather eye-opening for me.

Another very memorable essay exposes the sleight of hand that another writer uses to seemlessly move the narrative back and forth through time in a story. A very trivial thing, but picking it apart and seeing how it's done was an amazing learning experience for me.

In case you can't tell, I heartily recommend this book to any lit-crit virgins.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag; ceremonial talks at awards ceremonies probably aren't where a scholar produces his best work. He's at his dullest talking about the authors he admires, like Joyce or Borges (and outright useless talking about ones he doesn't, like Oscar Wilde), and at his best talking about things like the persistent influence of Aristotle's Poetics in modern ideas about narrative, or the rhetorical structures in The Communist Manifesto. I just like the fact that he's one of those rare figures (his compatriot Italo Calvino is another) who breaks down the usual novelist-scholar dichotomy. Whatever you think of their work, it's refreshing to see someone try to operate outside the increasingly large number of increasingly small boxes cultural production gets put into nowadays.

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this. always love books about books. he mentions maybe around 75 books here the majority i hadnt read or heard of but had read a good dozen that hes spoken about so it was interesting hearing his perspectives on them. the chapter where he talks about the name of the rose is really interesting and how he writes and how he prepares for sometimes 2 years researching, and drawing and taking pictures and notes was incredible. its inspired me to do the same with my book. very scientific approach to something completely non scientific. really good book. massively recommend it.