Abstract
AbstractThis essay traces the evolution of Umberto Eco’s thinking from a particular point of view, that of his reflections on ideology and ideological discourse. The reason for this choice is that ideology is one of the themes that is associated with the mature phase of Eco’s work, generally regarded as beginning with theTrattato di semiotica generale(1975, A Theory of Semiotics). Moreover, by examining ideology it is possible to piece together a complex path of intellectual reconsiderations and redefinitions involving both the discipline of semiotics and the broader cultural context. To tackle this topic it is in fact necessary to refer both to the general ambit of Eco’s semiotics and the historic and cultural context in which these studies originated.
Highlights
This essay traces the evolution of Umberto Eco’s thinking from a particular point of view, that of his reflections on ideology and ideological discourse
There is not a constant concern with the issue of ideology in Eco’s writing – which was only explicitly studied through to 1975, and it subsequently touched on in the Lector in fabula of 1979 – the second part of this essay will attempt to explore the kind of relationship that exists between a theory of ideology and of ideological discourse with other concepts such as the encyclopedia and interpretation, developed by Eco from the 1980s onwards
In A Theory of Semiotics (1976a), the analysis of ideology is one of the key examples Eco uses in the discussion of the complex interaction between the “theory of codes” and the “theory of sign production,” which make up the two sections of the book
Summary
This essay traces the evolution of Umberto Eco’s thinking from a particular point of view, that of his reflections on ideology and ideological discourse The reason for this choice is that ideology is one of the themes that is associated with the mature phase of Eco’s work, generally regarded as beginning with the Trattato di semiotica generale (1975a) [A Theory of Semiotics (1976a)]. There is not a constant concern with the issue of ideology in Eco’s writing – which was only explicitly studied through to 1975, and it subsequently touched on in the Lector in fabula of 1979 – the second part of this essay will attempt to explore the kind of relationship that exists between a theory of ideology and of ideological discourse with other concepts such as the encyclopedia and interpretation, developed by Eco from the 1980s onwards (see Section 4). And quite irrespective of any theoretical and political fervor, it would be unwise to underestimate the potential offered by modern semiotic tools for grasping the interpretative dynamics of texts and discourse in which ideological meanings and values are transmitted together with aesthetic, stylistic, and other values, and for understanding the relationship between the former and the latter in a period of a total fracturing of points of view as well as of the cultural and social “fabric.”
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