“Towards a New Middle Ages” – Umberto Eco Revisits the Medieval Age

Umberto Eco’s attempt to bring the past into the present or the presentness of past is evident from his essay “Towards a New Middle Ages” wherein he draws an analogy between the present age and the medieval ages. Eco asserts in the essay that the present age follows a line of pattern that could be traced to the middle ages. It is likely the continuation of the mediaeval time with increased specialization that disrupts the inter dependence, gives rise to autonomy which could be disastrous and results into alienation. In the essay, he discusses specifically of the dangers of the present age in relation to the medieval ages. The parallel he draws negates the contingency changes over the period of time and the essay seems an exaggeration sidelining the development happened since then. This exaggeration evolves from the ‘fantasy’ that often considered as highly impossible but hints at the probability. Probability does not render the essay insignificant instead makes it as valuable because the fantasy goes into the critical inquiry into the past and links it to the present and the probable future. With the assistance of fantasy, Umberto Eco reconstructs the history in the present age but his reconstruction is the selective history in order to comment on the present and the future.

 

Umberto Eco: Rethinking History andFiction

 Umberto Eco’s essay – “Towards aNew Middle Ages”-   was published in 1985 in On Signs edited by Marshall Blonsky. Eco revisits the past in this prose. He is medievalist who harks back on the past for his fiction, criticism, theories and other art forms. He believes that the contemporary period is an offshoot of the past; we cannot detach ourselves from the past. The relationship between past and present is not limited to the temporal units, it is permanent. Past and present exist together; they enter into each other territory. “Towards a New Middle Ages” is an essay on medievalism and its revival in the contemporary period.

The prose is important for the study of The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum. Both the texts revisit the middle-ages, with their own vested interests to expose intricate cultural, social, and religious spheres. The common ground between the two texts is the reconstruction of medieval era. The essay “Towards a New Middle Ages” also reconstructs the middle ages. It raises some of the important themes, which we find in the texts like – fragmentation of central authority; emergence of radical groups, insecurity; preservation, secret groups, and production of fake knowledge.

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Playing with Faith of Readers – Umberto Eco is a Cretan

 

 

 

 

In The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco plays the readers understanding of fiction as an human constructed narrative structure. He explains in the preface that the story is based on a manuscript which was given to him by a friend describing the real incident occurred in the fourteenth century.  The reader presumes that the book is a kind of history of fourteenth century, particularly dealing with the incidents of local place. Hence, it is a kind of Paradox like -  Paradox of Cretan Liars wherein Epimenides claims, “All Cretans are Liars.” This statement seems to be poststructuralist as it is self referential and contradicts itself. It has two probable answers and both of them grounds on the assumptions – if the statement is true or the statement is false. The statement asserts its validity and at the same time denies its affirmation since they criticize structuralism on the ground of following a circular chain of signs to draw the meaning, but the point of emphasis is the poststructuralists using the same method to which they reject. Their own meaning is based  on that they criticize (self referential and self contradicting). When we analyze The Paradox of Cretan Liars in the context of the Name of the Rose, we find that Epimenides remark brings the lost manuscript in the domain of both fiction and history. In fact, it raises even more important question on narrativity forming the core of both fiction and history. Epimenides’ statement circumscribes history into the realm of fiction as it is probably a fictive narrative of historiographer and fiction into the domain of history confirming facts. It becomes difficult to mark a boundary between history and fiction as there is no way of knowing whether the presentation of facts by Umbeto Eco to support his argument is true or false. It leaves the reader with the two possibilities and the reader is free to decide whether the historical accounts given by Eco to support his arguments are fictitious historical facts based on fictive narrative or true evidences. The distinction between fiction and history become complex when Eco creates a medieval period; he does not uses “once upon a time” to tell a story instead uses a narration of historiographer. He does not take the reader into the past, creates the past for them in the present. He emphasizes on the presentness of the medieval ages introduces reader as if they were living part of the history. The construction of past in the present might be an imaginative endeavor; a splendid exhibit of human faculty; a new insight into the present and the drafting of past with possible consequences.    

Umberto Eco: Rethinking of History and Fiction (Century Publication)

History and Fiction

 

With the introduction of the manuscript, the writer’s position resembles that indicated by the old Greek philosophical riddle called ‘The Paradox of theCretan Liar.’ The paradox was formulated by Eubulides in the fourth century BCE around the primary statement –”All Cretans are liars.” The statement is self referential and self contradicting. Epimenides is a Cretan, therefore he is a liar and, consequently, his assertion is false. Alexandre Koyre tries to find a solution to the problem with the help of philosophical reasoning. For him, “All Cretans are liar” is a major proposition and “Epimenides is a Cretan” is a minor proposition. Therefore, “All the assertions of Epimenides are false.” But when the last proposition is taken as a major, together with “the assertion ‘all Cretans, etc.’ is an assertion of Epimenides,” entails the conclusion,- the assertion ‘all Cretans, etc.” is false. Koyre concludes –

“Not all the Cretans are liars, i.e., the statements of Cretans are not all and necessarily false. We must conclude from this that there are certain Cretans who speak the truth, i.e., that certain judgments made by Cretans are (or can be) true. However, it does not follow there from that Cretans are always truthful, and that all the judgments of the Cretans are true always.”

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Umberto Eco – Producer of Postmodern Knowledge

UmbertoEco is well known for his postmodern novels and literary theories, deeply delved into the poststructuralist debate of representing an a multiple meanings. Post structuralism hits the very base on which human certainties affix themselves; it calls for reconsideration of what previously taken as real on part of it resemblance to what happened in the past as it depends on evidences in the form of material and historical accounts. Poststructuralists elude the distinction between history and fiction and put the historical details in the realm of fiction. Fiction and history are human construction with the help of signs. It elucidates that signs do not end at one point or do not have a particular ontological or epistemological meaning. They require signs to express their inference and therefore do not give fixity to the meaning. The usage of signs in the history makes the history as fluid and slippery as fiction owing to uncertain meanings of signs.

The linkage between history and fiction in Umberto Eco’s writing emerges from the author’s intended description to inform the reader that the story is inspired from a lost fourteenth century manuscript. The lost manuscript leaves the reader in predicament to assume that is the true depiction of what already scripted in the lost manuscript or the construction of human imagination embedding both history and fiction together to give a perfect account of the human hardships, conditions and other issues linked to medieval period. Since the manuscript Eco discusses is lost, the ascertaining of true meaning of his text and its authenticity about the history raises questions on it. Irrespective of persistent references and claims of the true nature of lost manuscript, the reader exhibits his suspicion on its meaning.

Umberto Eco: Rethinking History and Fiction(Century Publication)

                                                    
                                                         Introduction

 With the emergence of postmodernism, an intense debate on the substitutive nature of history and fiction begins. The debate gains momentum with the evolution of a kind of writing in which history and fiction infiltrate each other. The territorial independence of history and fiction ceases. My concern is the complications that emerge due to the permeation of history by fiction as the demarcations between the two disciplines begin to blur. This problematizes the relationship between history and meaning; reconfigures the representation of factual data; and redefines our conception of authenticity. It also changes our sense of the way in which history produces knowledge. History and knowledge are related to each other on account of information. History compiles factual statistics from archives and substantiates them through causes, reasons and consequences. We concede the authenticity of facts but uncertain of information owing to its presentation and narration.

 

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UMBERTO ECO: RETHINKING HISTORY AND FICTION (Century Publication)

ABSTRACT

History give an access to unknown past through narrative structure scaffolding on facts and manuscripts drawn from achieves. These manuscripts and detailed accounts corroborate with ruined archeological sites with inscriptions and arts. Thus, history represents rational and objective truth that answers to all the queries of people about the past.  What happens when a fiction writer chooses stories and characters from history? If a fictional story is based on a historical incident and characters, what is the difference between fiction and history? Does the reader not find himself cheated? What stand does the reader take with respect to fiction and history? These questions inform about the substitutive nature of history and fiction that have infiltrated into each other territories. Does it really obliterate the difference?   The questions become easier to answer if we define history and fiction in their respective territories. In fact, neither history is fictitious nor fiction is history; they do not pose a challenge to each other only inform about narrative structure and their representation through language.

The debate on the substitutive nature of history and fiction becomes important when I read Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, which is drawn from a manuscript, narrating a story of monastery from the fourteenth century. The manuscript is based on a real incident and Eco employs its content to write the book incorporating real characters and organizations. He sheds light on the problems people faced owing to their religious positions, and how science proved detrimental to religion.  The book exhibits the significance of rational thinking and theory of deduction (primarily used by Sherlock Holmes) to access knowledge. The study has discovered that history is a source of knowledge about the past which uses scientific methods as a detective employs to solve a mystery.  The study also takes into account the theories of history and fiction with a specific reference to borrowing of content and characters from other sources without acknowledgment. Foucault’s Pendulum is a story of three editors who develop a PLAN from second rate manuscripts on historical incidents. A secret organization considers the fictitious PLAN to be real and kills the three editors. They borrow their content on the Templars and other secret organizations from the manuscripts. The study shows that history emerges through multiple texts. Each text has its own significance and essence; each text oozes from the other. The production of text questions the authenticity from which it has evolved. In Foucault’s Pendulum, Eco sets a conversation between past and present then move to the borrowing from the past and its articulation in new framework.

Lastly, the study tries to find answers to important questions – how history resurrects in the present? How past is always present?  What are the mediums of past re-emergence in the present?  These questions are significant in view of the fact that history is written in the present. It lacks the pastness of past rather a present of the past. We get the answers to all these questions in Umberto Eco’s essay – “Towards a New Middle Ages” that explains the past never dies; it revisits the present though in different form. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

History give an access to unknown past through narrative structure scaffolding on facts and manuscripts drawn from achieves. These manuscripts and detailed accounts corroborate with ruined archeological sites with inscriptions and arts. Thus, history represents rational and objective truth that answers to all the queries of people about the past. What happens when a fiction writer chooses stories and characters from history? If a fictional story is based on a historical incident and characters, what is the difference between fiction and history? Does the reader not find himself cheated? What stand does the reader take with respect to fiction and history? These questions inform about the substitutive nature of history and fiction that have infiltrated into each other territories. Does it really obliterate the difference? The questions become easier to answer if we define history and fiction in their respective territories. In fact, neither history is fictitious nor fiction is history; they do not pose a challenge to each other only inform about narrative structure and their representation through language.

The debate on the substitutive nature of history and fiction becomes important when I read Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, which is drawn from a manuscript, narrating a story of monastery from the fourteenth century. The manuscript is based on a real incident and Eco employs its content to write the book incorporating real characters and organizations. He sheds light on the problems people faced owing to their religious positions, and how science proved detrimental to religion. The book exhibits the significance of rational thinking and theory of deduction (primarily used by Sherlock Holmes) to access knowledge. The study has discovered that history is a source of knowledge about the past which uses scientific methods as a detective employs to solve a mystery. The study also takes into account the theories of history and fiction with a specific reference to borrowing of content and characters from other sources without acknowledgment. Foucault’s Pendulum is a story of three editors who develop a PLAN from second rate manuscripts on historical incidents. A secret organization considers the fictitious PLAN to be real and kills the three editors. They borrow their content on the Templars and other secret organizations from the manuscripts. The study shows that history emerges through multiple texts. Each text has its own significance and essence; each text oozes from the other. The production of text questions the authenticity from which it has evolved. In Foucault’s Pendulum, Eco sets a conversation between past and present then move to the borrowing from the past and its articulation in new framework.

Lastly, the book tries to find answers to important questions – how history resurrects in the present? How past is always present? What are the mediums of past re-emergence in the present? These questions are significant in view of the fact that history is written in the present. It lacks the pastness of past rather a present of the past. We get the answers to all these questions in Umberto Eco’s essay – “Towards a New Middle Ages” that explains the past never dies; it revisits the present though in different form.

Contents

 

   I)                        Chapter 1– History and Fiction

 II)                     Chapter 2 – The Name of the Rose: A Study of History and Fiction

 III)            Chapter 3 – The Name of the Rose: Knowledge, Detection, Threats, Institutionalization and Interpretation

IV)           Chapter 4 - Foucault’s Pendulum: The Creation of Multiple Histories

V)                   Chapter 5 - “Towards of New Middle Ages”: Resurrection of Past in Present

VI)           Conclusion – Eco’ Fictional History and Sensational Fiction

Bibliography

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The author works in the capacity of an Assistant Professor (Adhoc) at Bharati College University of Delhi, India. His research interest areas are – Postmodernism, History and Fiction, Cultural Studies, and Crime and Detection.

 

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Acquisition of Knowledge

The Name of the Rose sketches multiple lines of arguments by emphasizing a unique agenda to a specific character. William of Baskerville and Adso represent the rational amateur detective, we meet in the last nineteenth century in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, Jorge represents the fundamentalist and conservative religious persona hiding the philosophy book of Aristotle – Comedy – which might prove catastrophe to the Christianity. The monastery is a home of the monks engaged in the propagation of knowledge, copying the manuscripts. Although they seem to have been involved in the protection of knowledge, yet they burn with the desire to acquire the knowledge. The acquisition of knowledge through observations dates back to the primitive age but it popularity rises in the medieval ages when two schools of thought – scholastic and humanistic – lead to fragmentation of opinions. We find this struggle and its evaluation from a detective perspective in The Name of the Rose which represents struggle between humanistic and scholastic knowledge or struggle between faith and reason. Umberto Eco takes the responsibility of judging medieval ages struggle for supremacy with the help of his inquisitor – William of Baskerville. Baskerville favors humanistic school of thought as it depends on observations. Humanism promotes individuality; emphasizes on man and his acumen. Scholastic rejects individuality and promotes the supremacy of divine authority to man’s material existence. Humanism studies nature and its phenomenon as open text which should not be obscured from masses. Humanism is a resurrection of man’s glorious past, dismantling the stronghold of institutions propagating vested interests of powerful authorities. Roman Catholic Church is a hierarchical institution running on the ideology of scholastic belief system. It eradicates doctrinal issues and unifies knowledge into a cohesive system by inculcating good and evil knowledge. It disseminates order to Roman Catholic Church dominated land. Roman Catholic Church spread its wing through monasteries where proper channels are established to disseminate rigid theological doctrines. However, the voices against the administrative power of the Church continue to pose challenges to the papal authority. These voices project humanistic belief system wherein man is empowered to interpret the knowledge as per his convenience. The reason to call voices humanistic school of thought is the generation of plethora of interpretations against unified rigid system. Medieval ages witnessed the conflict between humanism and scholastic thought of school as we found in The Name of the Rose. Monastery of Melk parallels the Roman Catholic Church working like an institution having set rules and regulations. The central. 

Umberto Eco; Rethinking History and Fiction (Century Publication)

The debate on the substitutive nature of history and fiction becomes important when I read Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, which is drawn from a manuscript, narrating a story of monastery from the fourteenth century. The manuscript is based on a real incident and Eco employs its content to write the book incorporating real characters and organizations. He sheds light on the problems people faced owing to their religious positions, and how science proved detrimental to religion.  The book exhibits the significance of rational thinking and theory of deduction (primarily used by Sherlock Holmes) to access knowledge. The study has discovered that history is a source of knowledge about the past which uses scientific methods as a detective employs to solve a mystery.  The study also takes into account the theories of history and fiction with a specific reference to borrowing of content and characters from other sources without acknowledgment. Foucault’s Pendulum is a story of three editors who develop a PLAN from second rate manuscripts on historical incidents. A secret organization considers the fictitious PLAN to be real and kills the three editors. They borrow their content on the Templars and other secret organizations from the manuscripts. The study shows that history emerges through multiple texts. Each text has its own significance and essence; each text oozes from the other. The production of text questions the authenticity from which it has evolved. In Foucault’s Pendulum, Eco sets a conversation between past and present then move to the borrowing from the past and its articulation in new framework.

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The Name of the Rose - Sherlock Holmes of Umberto Eco in the Middle Ages

Arthur Conan Doyle carries the tradition of crime and criminals along with deep observation methods to answer the mysteries that require human intelligence. The observational method strengthens inductive and deductive reasoning of both human generated processes and natural phenomenon. It is the core analytical instrument used by detective to sift relevant from irrelevant. Sherlock Holmes solves mysteries by observing facts. Holmes uses inductive reasoning to create profiles of culprits. Dr. Watson prepares a chart of Holmes’ limitations, giving an impression that Holmes scores high in scientific knowledge and decent on sensational literature. However, scientific knowledge does not incorporate pure science. Science assists in deduction from the chunk; it segregates essential from inessential. Holmes possesses proper knowledge a detective should have to distinguish between apparent and hidden reality. The distinction between apparent and hidden reality is made by drawing inference of a set of observations which reciprocate with a premise to begin investigation. The premise does not necessarily yield fruitful results; it is an assumption to work on. Holmes moves from specific details to general argument and from general to specific. Under these rules of inductive and deductive reasoning, detective should not have an in-depth knowledge but sufficient to prove his argument on rational ground. Following the same line of argument, Umberto Eco constructs his postmodern detective fiction on inductive and deductive reasoning. Eco commences his most famous text The Name of the Rose by highlighting the significance of inductive and deductive reasoning. In the beginning of the text, William of Baskerville and Adso identifies the breed of the horse without even seeing it ones. Adso and the cellarer of Melk monastery are curious to know how Baskerville identifies the breed of the horse. Baskerville elucidates that he reads the signs of nature and relate them to his observational knowledge. Baskerville employs analytical deductive reasoning to ascertain the breed of horse by reading the marks left on the ground. Baskerville is not an expert yet profound reader to understand the difference between an apparent and hidden reality. Baskerville does not recollect the name of Aristotle’s second book, reflecting his loose end. Eco does not develop Baskerville a perfect figure having every kind of knowledge. Baskerville gains knowledge through observation, induction, deduction, and rationality.

 Umberto Eco: Rethinking of History and Fiction (Century Publication)

 History give an access to unknown past through narrative structure scaffolding on facts and manuscripts drawn from achieves. These manuscripts and detailed accounts corroborate with ruined archeological sites with inscriptions and arts. Thus, history represents rational and objective truth that answers to all the queries of people about the past.  What happens when a fiction writer chooses stories and characters from history? If a fictional story is based on a historical incident and characters, what is the difference between fiction and history? Does the reader not find himself cheated? What stand does the reader take with respect to fiction and history? These questions inform about the substitutive nature of history and fiction that have infiltrated into each other territories. Does it really obliterate the difference?   The questions become easier to answer if we define history and fiction in their respective territories. In fact, neither history is fictitious nor fiction is history; they do not pose a challenge to each other only inform about narrative structure and their representation through language.

The debate on the substitutive nature of history and fiction becomes important when I read Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, which is drawn from a manuscript, narrating a story of monastery from the fourteenth century. The manuscript is based on a real incident and Eco employs its content to write the book incorporating real characters and organizations. He sheds light on the problems people faced owing to their religious positions, and how science proved detrimental to religion.  The book exhibits the significance of rational thinking and theory of deduction (primarily used by Sherlock Holmes) to access knowledge. The study has discovered that history is a source of knowledge about the past which uses scientific methods as a detective employs to solve a mystery.

Lastly, the study tries to find answers to important questions – how history resurrects in the present? How past is always present?  What are the mediums of past re-emergence in the present?  These questions are significant in view of the fact that history is written in the present. It lacks the pastness of past rather a present of the past. We get the answers to all these questions in Umberto Eco’s essay – “Towards a New Middle Ages” that explains the past never dies; it revisits the present though in different form.

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Dissolution of History and Fiction in Postmodern Detective Fiction

Is it very hard to make the distinction between history and fiction? Why has history become the bone of contention in the postmodern age? How does the postmodern detective fiction lead to uproar? The postmodern elements in the works of Umberto Eco – The Name of the Rose, Foucault’s Pendulum, and Travels in Hyperreality draws our attention to the multiple contentions of history, myth and fiction.  

 

When we study The Name of the Rose in context of postmodernist theory of history and fiction, we find that Eco prioritizes concerns to present the changing social, political and religious spheres with the help of fiction. It also leads us back into the domain of detective fiction wherein the world of Conan Doyle emerges. Fiction grounds on imagination that helps in the construction of narrative picture and history gives the picture of past. Fiction infiltrates into the territory of facts with the presentation of verified data in the form of names, factions, dates, and incidents. This crossing of the boundary blurs the demarcation of history and fiction as the reader finds himself incapable to treat the content fact or imaginatively constructed. Linda Hutcheon argues that the writing of postmodernists is best represented by those works of historiographic metafiction which self consciously distort history. This distortion of history could be accomplished through various means such as blending of “history and fantasy.”  Postmodern historical novels incorporate historical documents, events and historical personages into the fictional worlds of their works, drawing attention at the same time to this process. Linda Hutcheon in her Poetics of Postmodernism labels postmodern historical novels as “historiographic metafictions” since they thematize the theory of contemporary historiography and problematize the distinction between history and fiction. She explains her reason for such a label thus: “[historiographic metafiction] puts into question, at the same time as it exploits, the grounding of historical knowledge in the real past. This is why I have been calling this historiographic metafiction.” [1]

 

The movie adaptation of The Name of the Rose directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud starring Sean Connery as William of Baskerville and Christian Slater as Adso of Melk help in understanding the issue more deeply. The theory and practice of historiographic metafictions with reference to detective fiction and post modernism also help in the study of text and its adaptation keeping in view the development in the field of literature with the involvement of media.

Umberto Eco: Rethinking of History andFiction

The debate on the substitutive nature of history and fiction becomes important when I read Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, which is drawn from a manuscript, narrating a story of monastery from the fourteenth century. The manuscript is based on a real incident and Eco employs its content to write the book incorporating real characters and organizations. He sheds light on the problems people faced owing to their religious positions, and how science proved detrimental to religion.  The book exhibits the significance of rational thinking and theory of deduction (primarily used by Sherlock Holmes) to access knowledge. The study has discovered that history is a source of knowledge about the past which uses scientific methods as a detective employs to solve a mystery.  The study also takes into account the theories of history and fiction with a specific reference to borrowing of content and characters from other sources without acknowledgment. Foucault’s Pendulum is a story of three editors who develop a PLAN from second rate manuscripts on historical incidents. A secret organization considers the fictitious PLAN to be real and kills the three editors. They borrow their content on the Templars and other secret organizations from the manuscripts. The study shows that history emerges through multiple texts. Each text has its own significance and essence; each text oozes from the other. The production of text questions the authenticity from which it has evolved. In Foucault’s Pendulum, Eco sets a conversation between past and present then move to the borrowing from the past and its articulation in new framework.

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[1] Linda Hutcheon, The Poetics of Postmodernism. London: Routledge. 1989 p. 92.