Tales of Misunderstanding

Umberto Eco delivered these lectures in English to graduate students at the Italian Academy in America. In these lectures, he addresses three important topics: language, intercultural relations, and the relationship between the author, the text, and the reader. In a simple and precise style, Eco reveals the influence of cognitive, spiritual, and mythological backgrounds on humans in their relationship with everything surrounding them or that they do. When these backgrounds control the relationship between civilizations, they inevitably lead to the famous colonial triad: subjugation, plunder, and alienation. This aims to obliterate and erase one civilization in favor of another by attributing traits such as backwardness, savagery, and obscurity to the tools and achievements of the targeted civilization. He exemplifies this with the relationship of European civilization—both past and present—with the treasures of the ancient world after depleting and stealing them. Eco also addresses the role of these backgrounds, which always reside in the subconscious of the writer and the reader, awaiting the right opportunities to be freed, embodied, and interacted with. The lectures bear a certain degree of orality, which made them characterized by short sentences, simple structure, and lack of affectation.

This book is authored by Umberto Eco, and all rights are reserved by the author.