Learning culture in signs and symbols

"Don't believe yourself to be the only author of stories in this world. Sooner or later someone, more of a liar than Baudolino, will tell it."

These words end the bestselling novel Baudolino and began the lecture led by its author, Umberto Eco, on Monday night.

A crowd of about 400 people gathered at the Free Library of Philadelphia to listen to a lecture by Eco on his latest novel Baudolino.

Eco is the director of the doctorate program in semiotics at the University of Bologna, Italy. His first book, The Name of the Rose, published in 1980, became an international hit and was followed in 1989 by the equally-successful Foucault's Pendulum.

Baudolino is named after the main character in the book, a 12th century Italian peasant boy who, thanks to his innate ability to lie, becomes the adopted son of the Germanic emperor Frederick, known as "Redbeard." Strikingly, the boy's lies always turn into reality, and by virtue of this, he crafts and brings to the attention of the world a letter from the mythical Priest John.

This letter is the beginning of an incredible -- and far-fetched -- series of adventures, where history is mixed with the most fantastic creatures of the Middle Ages.

The lecture focused mainly on the book's most salient aspects of semiotics, the study of cultures through their signs and symbols. Eco declared that his novel was born from the memories of his native dialect's sounds.

This particularity, however, caused many difficulties for the book's translators. This obstacle is also the reason why the novel reached the American public almost two years after its publication in Italy.

"It's a challenge," Eco said after the lecture.

Throughout the novel, Eco's aim was to give color and sound to his descriptions. To better explain his point, he read in Italian a description of the tumultuous river of rocks, the Sambatyon. The alliterations and onomatopoeic sounds truly gave the impression of a "rocking picture show."

The lecture was followed by a series of questions. When asked about his works, Eco declared that "Every serious thinker is writing palinsests all along his or her life," and added that he was no exception.

"I suspect I'm always writing the same story, scratching and rewriting," he said.

The organizers of the event said they were thrilled to have such a distinguished lecturer as their guest.

"There is an international community in Philadelphia [that] is well-educated and is excited to meet famous authors from abroad," Assistant Program Director Sara Goddard said.

Eco's lecture was also viewed by members of the community.

Philadelphia resident Leslie Norvell said that Eco "is a very charismatic speaker."

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