New Spark to the Mystery of Templers and Holy Grail

As per a new report published on the website of History Channel, the mystery of Templers has sparked discussion with an English cave came into limelight. The cave is engraved with some mysterious images that remind people of eight hundred years old Templers and Holy Grail. 

The mystery is so intrigue that it has been dragging writers, historians and scholars to unearth the truth. Writers, historians and explorers are so much of obsessed with the mystery that in the first decade of twenty first century Dan Brown gave a new twist to it by fictionalize in his famous book – The Da Vinci Code. And who can forget the legendry Italian Writer Umbero Eco for his masterpiece – Foucault’s Pendulum that stunned the reader with its thrilling unraveling of truth in fiction -

“Generation after generation, from Walter Scott’s nineteenth-century romance ‘Ivanhoe’ to Umberto Eco’s 1988 novel ‘Foucault’s Pendulum’ to the video game franchise ‘Assassin’s Creed’, the Templars are portrayed as a strange, often shadowy and sometimes downright evil organization, deathless and self-interested, guarding secrets and treasure, and out to control the world.”[1]

 Foucault’s Pendulum drags readers interested in searching the truth of Holy Grail and Templers in fiction. Even more encouraging is the way academia responded to the popular historical fiction.

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[1] http://www.history.com/news/medieval-carvings-spark-new-templar-theories

Not Just Detective Story

On December 27, 2016, The New Indian Express published an opinion article titled "A detective story, not for the faint hearted" by Shom Biswas on Umberto Eco's famous postmodern novel - The Name of the Rose - to acquaint the reader with the queerness of the story situated in the fourteenth century and exploiting the modern detective techniques of inquiring into the mysterious death of monks. I agree with Biswas to a great extent with regard to the summary and unique plot but apparently the author fumbles on the issue of knowledge and philosophical debate in different spheres including the Roman Catholic Church, diverse opinion of Christians on poverty, division of Christians followers and most importantly, the threat to the church from Aristotle's philosophy. Even more surprising for the readers is the character Baskerville - not a new creation rather an imitation of Arthur Conan Doyle's short story - "The Hound of Baskerville"

The book is unique as it opens avenues for the interested readers to see it through a prism that enables them to realize its critical potential.

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Umberto Eco Quotes for Games and Entertainment

As per the PC Games, "Quote is a game about burning books and feeding authors to a ravenous kiwi-like creature in order to purge the world of knowledge. Ostensibly, you’re the bad guy, an empty vessel sent by the tyrannical Bliss, God of Ignorance to destroy fiction and fact alike. In the surreal confines of the game however, you’re Novella, Priestess of Bliss, a heroic girl on a mission to cure the world of a blight that consumes everyone it reaches."


“We decided very early on that we should lock ourselves away and make something as strange as possible,” explains Quote’s lead designer Robin Lacey. Indeed, what do Italian philosophers and ‘90s Saturday morning cartoons have in common? Nothing. And yet overtones of both Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and Cartoon Network's finest can be glimpsed in every nook and cranny of this isometric brawler.


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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. 

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 Umberto Eco Dies at Eighty Four

The death of Italian author - Umberto Eco - at the age of eighty four is an immense lose to his admirers. Known for his best-selling book The Name of the Rose, Eco produced captivating historical fiction on the middle ages. His works spell bounded the readers with an intense philosophical debates and thought provoking narratives. Published in 1989, Eco’s second book Foucault’s Pendulum received enthusiastic response from the readers who were mesmerized by synchronization of mystery, history, fiction and philosophy. Eco seemed to have evinced an unrealized fact that the publication of vanity books containing mysteries could be catastrophic to the society. Such books challenged the established opinion and threatened the faith of people in the existing system. As shown, Foucault’s Pendulum dealt with a game based on various conspiracy theories about The Knight Templers.

Eco was not only known for his postmodern historical fiction but also for his works in philosophy and literary criticism.      

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Umberto Eco Dead 2014

According to MediaMass

“Umberto Eco dead 2014” : ‘The Name of the Rose’ author killed by internet death hoax

 News of author Umberto Eco’s death spread quickly earlier this week causing concern among fans across the world. However the October 2014 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax and just the latest in a string of fake celebrity death reports. Thankfully, the author of the Name of the Rose is alive and well. However, this story seems to be false. 

Umberto Eco - Rethinking History and Fiction

                                             ABOUT THE BOOK

Umberto Eco to many of us is a known name who gives a new dimension to Postmodern fiction through The Name of the Rose that has received huge appreciation across the world. For me, Umberto Eco was an unidentified personality overshadow by Dan Brown who astonished the popular fiction readers with The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Being deeply impressed by Brown’s writing, I had made up my mind that I would critically study his work. The kind of complex curiosity Brown created through the Preface of The Da Vinci Code by claiming that some organizations and secret bodies exist even now.

Umberto Eco seemingly is one of the first torch bearers that sparked the discourse on the relationship between history and fiction. Eco informs in the Preface of The Name of the Rose that the roots of the story exist in a manuscript about a real incident occurred in the fourteenth century. The incident was a result of much debated issue then – “Whether the Church should give away its wealth?” The Franciscans debated on the Poverty of Christ and definition of heretics whereas the Dominicans opposed them vehemently. Umberto Eco has not articulated these issues rather tried to represent them through his works. I was of course guided by my own current interests but the starting point of these reflections on history and fiction to excavate deeply was usually a feeling of impatience. Precisely,  I was greatly resented that the two distinctive disciplines infiltrate into each other territories without cognizance to the damage cause to the prestige. Right from the beginning, I was engaged to find the common ground between history and fiction and confident that the two only produce knowledge or provide information. Language provides the apparatus on which the scaffolding of knowledge erected. The book is a philosophical interpretation of Eco’s fiction and does not bound the reader with its assertions.

                                                  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

For More Information – visit

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Umberto Eco - A Theory of Conspiracies

According to LiveMint

Umberto Eco | A theory of conspiracies

Every conspiracy theory steers the public psyche toward imaginary perils, thereby distracting it from genuine threats

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/5lhODHqqZHUCqwOZcw2liL/Umberto-Eco--A-theory-of-conspiracies.html?utm_source=copy

              Umberto Eco - Rethinking History and Fictonhttp://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?ltrec=t&isbn=9788188132539&bi=

                                       ABOUT THE BOOK

Umberto Eco to many of us is a known name who gives a new dimension to Postmodern fiction through The Name of the Rose that has received huge appreciation across the world. For me, Umberto Eco was an unidentified personality overshadow by Dan Brown who astonished the popular fiction readers with The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Being deeply impressed by Brown’s writing, I had made up my mind that I would critically study his work. The kind of complex curiosity Brown created through the Preface of The Da Vinci Code by claiming that some organizations and secret bodies exist even now.

Umberto Eco seemingly is one of the first torch bearers that sparked the discourse on the relationship between history and fiction. Eco informs in the Preface of The Name of the Rose that the roots of the story exist in a manuscript about a real incident occurred in the fourteenth century. The incident was a result of much debated issue then – “Whether the Church should give away its wealth?” The Franciscans debated on the Poverty of Christ and definition of heretics whereas the Dominicans opposed them vehemently. Umberto Eco has not articulated these issues rather tried to represent them through his works. I was of course guided by my own current interests but the starting point of these reflections on history and fiction to excavate deeply was usually a feeling of impatience. Precisely,

 I was greatly resented that the two distinctive disciplines infiltrate into each other territories without cognizance to the damage cause to the prestige. Right from the beginning, I was engaged to find the common ground between history and fiction and confident that the two only produce knowledge or provide information. Language provides the apparatus on which the scaffolding of knowledge erected. The book is a philosophical interpretation of Eco’s fiction and does not bound the reader with its assertions.

                                         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.

 For More Information – visit

http://www.abebooks.com/Umberto-Eco-Rethinking-History-Fiction-Chetan/15482167674/bd