From a German perspective, it may be no coincidence that Umberto Eco died on a Friday night: For Eco, who had a German wife, was openly avowed fan of ZDF Friday thrillers which ran successfully for decades in Italy. “Derrick or passion for mediocrity” is a cheerful-ironic Eco-book, titled after one of his columns, he fortnightly for the Italian news magazine “L’Espresso” wrote since the mid-80s.
the “Derrick” -Passion fits, because the detective is a secret duration motto in Ecos life as a philosopher and writer is. Even his doctoral thesis on the Church teacher Thomas Aquinas had the appraiser certifies that he had the research report “as a detective novel” written. The so Eco summed up once, “would have led me to the idea that all research results ‘tells’ are. Every scientific book has a kind of whodunit be.”
Crime library
in Alessandria in Piedmont Umberto Eco came in 1932 with the world. This reminded latent in Alexandria, the place with the most famous library of antiquity. Most popular place for Ecos investigations were libraries, his most frequent motive donated the constellation “knowledge is power”, and his favorite method of investigation was the story.
The central story to Ecos life is that he dared as seasoned university professor at the age of 48 years and against all conventions of his class to debut under his real name as a writer of historical novels.
Weiser teacher
Its medieval thriller “the name of the Rose”, which appeared in German in 1982 and in 1986 filmed famous by Sean Connery, was a huge success right away. As a reader of Eco novels you always felt a bit like Adso of Melk in “The Name of the Rose”: The young assistant, which can be run on the side of the monastery Inspector William of Baskerville in the mysteries of a murderous dangerous monastic community checked, white God is not everything. But he understands that he has a wise teacher at his side, which means it by irony and innuendo, what he could know everything.
How long idea of the writer fermenting in him, betray Ecos “confessions of a young writer” by 2011. Accordingly, even went the matter as a child going on: “the first thing I ever wrote down the title, mostly inspired by adventure books of those days that the today’s curse Caribbean ‘films were quite similar. then I designed illustrations that should be inserted every ten pages, and then I started to write the first chapter. But I always wrote in block letters, to imitate the capital letters in the books, was I exhausted after only a few pages and gave up. “
From Aristotle to Atlantis
the Büchernerd, the let herself be influenced by typefaces and maps as well as of special and secret knowledge, Eco remained throughout his life. Similar allusions as “The Name of the Rose” came to him “Foucault’s Pendulum” and “The Cemetery of Prague” by a Jesuit or alleged Jewish world conspiracy.
With his talent for producing complicity both when formed as the semi-literate readers Eco paved those Mystery Street in the book market, the later to correct wide Dan- Brown runway should be leveled. Secret knowledge coupled with adventure action and discovery hallmark of “The Island of the day before,” Ecos Schmöker a Portuguese who in the South Seas is shipwrecked near the dateline. Ecos expeditions led from Aristotle to Atlantis, from Derrida to “Derrick” and of Zola to the Elders of Zion.
Between the classical and genre literature, saw between high and low culture Eco never a difference, and fear of contact with the mass culture he had none. This has to do with his career. After studying philosophy and literature in Turin, he spent five years with the Italian state broadcaster RAI and another 15 at the Milan publishing house Bompiani. His extramural experiences interpreted Eco retrospect always as “advantage I other intellectuals who then also dealt with the mass culture forward had.” “Adorno” said Eco, “knew the radio only as a listener, but had never worked in a radio institution.”
could describe vividly Eco thoroughly “How to write a scientific thesis”, “How to organize a public library”, “How to deal with a salmon traveling” – already showing Titelgebungen his writings the importance it was practical, anecdotal and complacent recycle knowledge ‘. / p>
The open work
1975 Eco was appointed professor of semiotics at Bologna. With it, semiotics, ie the scientific theory of the characters was, in the first place to a recognized academic discipline. To Ecos main semiotic writings the theory part of the “open work”. It says that only formed a book or movie in your head of the recipient to a complete artwork. Time Life Eco had a soft spot for the so-called voids in our sign systems. In them he could with great conspiracy theories as to heartily umzutun as with any small form of anecdote.
With age Eco lived his pleasure, expedition leader by always to be new areas of knowledge, from anarchic. Only in 2007, with 75 years, he retired from the regular university operations. Intellectuals retirement could for him, the polymath with more than 40 honorary doctorates, anyway not give. Besides novels Eco wrote curiosities plump, clever nonfiction: In “History of Beauty” (2004) was followed by a “history of ugliness” (2007). “The infinite list” (2009), a treatise on enumerations and progressions of all kinds, reconciled Ecos socialization as a Catholic with the original idea of popular culture, because “litanies are like phone books or catalogs, lists” in short. Pop
the reader on his side
Remember you should also mind that the German mainstream press were initially little to do with Eco , The idea that a university professor suddenly wrote popular historical novels, has the mid-80s, were still strictly separated as E and U, have been some concern. They took refuge in the talk of the postmodern double coding of his books. Readers were always on his side, the German book market was, as Eco himself testified, the one “where my works best selling world”.
A few months ago presented Eco in Munich his last novel before” zero point “(2015) came literary plenty trashy way, almost in the guise of” thus pulp fiction “. But the media satire had their semiotic base and, against a poetics to the logics of news value generation in the Berlusconi era. Until recently dined Eco, the Berlusconi critics, even from his “espresso” -Kolumnenplatz wise thoughts in the discus a, about the question of how to exiled the bullshit from the Internet.
last Friday’s Umberto Eco at the age of 84 years died in his adopted hometown of Milan. A lesson from the life of Poeta doctus that remains: Who other for strange worlds, no matter wants if medieval monasteries or “Derrick” inspire, whose curiosity has so highly glow and smolder like the ever encountered between Ecos mouth E-cigarette earlier times was a whistle.
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