Umberto Eco between postmodernism and narrative: Il nome della rosa, Il pendolo di Foucault, and La misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana

Abstract

In this article, Umberto Eco's novels will be analyzed as postmodern and neo-realist narration. From Il nome della rosa onwards, Eco does not only deal with questions of (literary) theory -such as semiotics, interpretation, and deconstruction -but also with ontological issues. Although striking examples of 'theory-aware' texts, Il nome della rosa and Il pendolo di Foucault consider the idea of a non-arbitrary perspective on the world. Putting further emphasis on this, La misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana stands in contrast to a postmodern play with theory and history. It can be described as a historical novel that highlights chances and limits of historiography. At the same time, it illustrates a return of narrative that goes hand in hand with a re-installation of author and narrator, the literary instances that had been put into question by Eco's earlier novels.

Extremes of ‘narrative by proxy’: ‘Memory’ in Umberto Eco’s The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana and The Prague Cemetery and ‘Oblivion’ in Jhumpa Lahiri’s In Other Words and Whereabouts

“…In the narrative context of Il cimitero di Praga ( The Prague Cemetery ) (Eco, 2010), the compilation of a diary by the protagonist and his alter ego goes hand in hand with the progress of the story. In this manner, Eco avoids a direct narration in almost all his novels and the voice of the narrator passes through filters and intermediations, through centuries, spaces, places, and technologies (Marnieri, 2014: 84–85; Schilling, 2015: 800–801).…”

“…Eco's novels retell history through meditative narrations and texts and while the past, its memories, and recalling them is fundamental to the salvation of the protagonists, there is a constant confusion of what is reality and what is fiction. As Schilling (2015: 801) argues, in the novel The Name of the Rose : “The manuscript fiction with which the story opens seems to endow the text with an atmosphere of authenticity by reconstructing its historical tradition – which, however, turns out to be fictitious.” At the end of the novel when, after many years, Adso returns to the burnt library, he admits that every attempt at finding and constructing the truth has failed (Schilling, 2015: 802). The same happens at the end of all Eco's novels; that is, no truth is found.…”

“… 6. “By the example of its protagonist, the text demonstrates that biography as well as historiography is essentially fictional in nature” (Schilling, 2015: 806). …”