Naming the Rose: Readers and Codes in Umberto Eco's Novel

Abstract

Umberto Eco's theory of semiotics has taken an evolutionary path of development. A Theory of Semiotics, first English edition of Eco's semiotics theory, was a detailed explanation of his theory of signs.1 major criticism of this work, a lack of references to specific literary texts to elucidate theory, led to Role of Reader.2 This book repeated theoretical basis of first book, but it also included a major section of specific literary texts such as Sue's Les mysteres de Paris and Allais's Un drame bien parisien. Eco reaches most recent stage of his theoretical work with Name of Rose, a novel which was published in Italy in 1980 and translated into English in 1983.3 In this novel, as one critic suggests, Eco has moved from theory to semiotic fiction.4 As Eco himself says in closing line of his introduction to Role of Reader: [a]fter having to let semiotics speak abundantly about texts, it is correct to let a text speak by itself about its strategy (RR, 40). In The Theory of Signs and Role of Eco explains evolution of semiotics during past twenty years.5 During sixties, semiotics focused on theoretical foundation of signs or sign-tradition. During seventies, there occurred a violent shift from signs to texts; emphasis in theory shifted from considering what constituted a sign to formation of text. third stage (from end of seventies to present) does not center on generation of texts but their reading. Eco believes that current theory is concerned with the recognition of reader's response as a possibility built into textual strategy (TS, 35). According to Eco, reader plays an active role in textual interpretation because signs are constructed according to an inferential model. . Signs are beginning of a process that leads a reader to an series of progressive consequences (TS, 44) and are devices that evoke meaning for reader. This open quality of signs postulates an active role on part of their interpreter (TS, 45). By defining this vital theory of signs as moving reader to an infinite number of possibilities for interpreting a text, Eco argues that semiotics has moved beyond simply listing elaborate patterns for understanding signs and texts (a frequent criticism of theories) to importance of reader in understanding signs found in text. In Role of Reader Eco identifies possible reader as Reader, who deals interpretatively with codes within a text just as author deals generatively with codes. Model Reader and author thus co