Page 2 - Microsoft Word - LESSON NOTES THE INTERVIEW-CHAPTER 18

AN EXCERPT FROM INTERVIEW WITH UMBERTO ECO

The following is a part of an interview of the Italian novelist named, Umberto Eco. He said
that he wrote novels on Sundays. Mukund Padmanabhan from The Hindu newspaper
interviewed him.
Umberto Eco was a professor at the University of Bologna, Italy at that time. He was famous
for his thoughts on semiotics, interpretation of writings and the beauty of the middle ages.
Later, he turned to write fiction.

He wrote a variety of literature - fiction, academic texts, essays, books for children and
articles for newspapers. He rose to fame in the year 1980 when his book titled ‘The Name of
the Rose’ became a bestseller.

THE INTERVIEW OF UMBERTO ECO:

He found it difficult to put it into words but began by saying that he had specific philosophical
interests that he continually sought to pursue through his academic works and novels.
Talking about his books for children, they all talked about non-violence and peace, which
were again based on ethics. T

hen, he talked about his secret - that he worked in empty spaces of time. He called them
interstices. According to him, these empty spaces were very crucial. If you removed the
empty spaces from the atoms or from the universe, the universe would be very compact, just
as big as his fist.
So, if he was expecting someone over, that is, someone was coming to his house and the
guest took the elevator from the ground floor to his flat on the third floor, as Umberto waited
for the guest - that time was an interstice and he used that interstice to write an article. That
is how he worked in such empty spaces of time which many people waste by sitting idle and
waiting.

Mukund mentioned that what he did was undoubtedly unique. His scholarly articles were
very different from the usual academic style. The usual academic style lacked personal
touch and was dry and boring. On the other hand, Umberto’s writings had a certain playful
and personal touch. He asked Eco that did he intentionally adopt an informal way of writing
or was he being natural.

Umberto narrated his story from his time in Italy where a Professor told that his thesis was
way different from others. He had told his story along with including the trials and errors that
happened during his research.

Others, on the other hand made false assumptions, corrected them and put conclusions.
This was the reason why the professor even published his thesis as a book. At the age of
22, he realised that his way of writing was the correct way and that his why his essays were
always in the narrative tone.

Probably, this was also the reason why he started writing novels at the age of 50. On the
contrary, his friend Roland Barthes always wanted to be a novelist along with being an
essayist.
Umberto Eco replied to Mukund by accepting that yes, it did bother him being identified as a
novelist. Umberto, on the other hand, identified himself with the academic community
because he considered himself a university professor who wrote novels only on Sundays.
He also attended academic conferences as opposed to Pen clubs and writer’s meetings. But
on the other hand, Eco accepted that he was well-aware that by writing novels, he was