The original essays gathered in this book make a beginning at
exploring the cultural significance of "The Name of the Rose" in
terms of its backgrounds and literary contexts. Eco's novel is
examined in the light of several of the traditions from which it
draws: theories of detective fiction, comedy, postmodernism, the
apocalypse, semiotics, and literary criticism. The authors from a
variety of language disciplines frequently draw on Eco's own
scholarly commentaries to elucidate the novel." The Name of the
Rose" was published in English in the United States in 1983 and
remained on the best-seller list for forty weeks. Paperback
publication rights brought the highest price ever paid for a
translation, and in 1986 it became a major motion picture. Written
by a distinguished professor of semiotics at the University of
Bologna, the novel was an immediate bestseller in Italy in 1980 and
was subsequently translated into twenty languages to universal
acclaim.The question all this raises is, how can such a novel be so
popular--a detective set in a medieval monastery, which entertains
at the same time as it deals with theology, history, politics,
humanism, comedy, literary criticism, and just about everything
else that makes up culture and society? Is it possible that a
popular piece of fiction, accessible to general readers, can also
address complex and profound ideas? This volume of essays on the
celebrated novel is the first of several books to be written in
appreciation of Eco's remarkable accomplishment. It has the
distinction also of including a foreword written by Eco himself in
response to the essays, certainly one of the few times when the
author has agreed to critique his critics. In addition, this
collection contains a bibliography of Eco criticism.Just as "The
Name of the Rose" has something for everyone, so too does this book
of critical essays. Scholar, teacher, student, and general reader
alike will benefit from the light it casts on a contemporary
literary phenomenon.
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