Umberto Eco’s semiotics of the text: Theoretical observations and an analysis of the parable of the banquet

Abstract

In this article I have attempted to use Umberto Eco’s semiotics of the text in order to analyze the famous “parable of the banquet,” which has come down to us in three versions from the gospels of Luke (14,15–24), Matthew (22,1–14) and Thomas (logion 64). In particular I have tried to consider (i) the socio-cultural context, or in other words the Sitz im Leben of the community within which the parable was written; (ii) the narrative structure of the parable, with the narrative nodes that stimulate the reader to cooperate in the work of interpretation and to draw inferences; (iii) the way in which the Model Author is portrayed in the text; (iv) the kind of Model Reader who is prefigured in the parable. The analysis has shown how in the parable of the banquet, the original level (deriving directly from the preaching of Jesus) characterized by a salvationist and social slant is always overlaid with another level that is hortatory, pedagogical or ecclesiological, and which takes on different connotations according to the different contexts. Generally the Evangelists are suggesting to their communities that they make changes in their behavior ranging from renunciation of wealth to the resetting of social ties, from a stance of constant vigilance to the practice of an active faith, from healthy detachment from worldly frivolity to a rigorous asceticism. Thus the editorial layers reveal differing narrative nodes in function of particular interpretative responses, different Model Authors and different Model Readers.

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“…All messages that can be received through the senses become symbols if they are interpreted as symbols that have meaning in the interpretation process (Gebremichael, 2019). Umberto Eco, a semiotic figure emphasizes the need for text pragmatics that highlights the state of pronunciation, the relationship with context, and interprets the text (Traini, 2019). This means that the meaning of a symbol is related to cultural values in a society where the symbol was created (Wedasuwari & Rasna, 2020).…”