He began writing in his childhood, which was shaped in part by Mussolini’s fascist movement. After the 2WW, though, Eco studied philosophy in college and it opened his mind to different kinds of writing and he explored as many as he could. Among readers of English, Eco is best known for his 1980 novel The Name of the Rose. For many readers, this book was an introduction to literary semiotics: the interpretation of signs and symbols. Even words scrawled on a steamy mirror or in blood could mean something more than or in addition to the words themselves. It added a layer of complexity to The Name of the Rose, which made the book a best seller for decades. Despite his love for semiotics, Eco made some things quite clear in his writing. His essay Ur-Fascism describes in detail how to identify a fascist and fascism.
A b/w photo portrait of a young Umberto Eco Image source: English Book
“To survive, you must tell stories.”
-Italian writer, critic, and philosopher Umberto Eco, born on this day in 1932.
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