| The Name of the Rose is the first novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year1327, an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. First published in Italian in1980under the title of Ⅱ nome della rosa. it appeared in English in1983, translated by William Weaver. Literary critics have been deeply analyzing The Name of the Rose in different perspectives. However, the most attractive place of this novel is that the author Eco has created The Name of the Rose as an anti-detective novel by parodying the plots, characters and the narrative technique of detective story to subvert the traditional detective mode. Therefore, this paper is about to discuss the characteristics of The Name of the Rose as an anti-detective fiction and the underlying reasons for using the anti-detective mode as a technique of expression. The thesis also tries to explain how The Name of the Rose suits both refined and popular tastes as a popular fiction.This thesis is divided into five parts. Chapter one makes a brief introduction to Umberto Eco and The Name of the Rose, the literary review and relevant theories.Chapter two investigates the characteristics, structure and quality of The Name of the Rose as a detective story.Chapter three focuses on the analysis of the characteristics of The Name of the Rose as an anti-detective novel.1)a failed detective;2) the different expression mode;3) the open text;4) the unconventional narrative structure. In addition, this part also discusses other anti-type of the postmodernism and discovers their common features then solves the problem about why they all have to be "anti"Chapter four mainly explores the reasons why the author apply anti-detective story as a technique of expression of the Post-modernism. First of all, Eco wishes to accomplish rational destruction through anti-detective novel. Secondly, the author uses anti-detective novel in order to create more readers. Finally, the historical novel with a combination of anti-detective story can better demonstrate the author’s point of view, that is, the reader should be able to identify the origins of those what will happen in the future through the history described in a work, as well as the process of producing results caused by slow change and development of the origins.Chapter Five is a conclusion, covering a brief summary and the realistic meaning of the research.The author of this thesis argues that as a classical anti-detective novel, The Name of the Rose provoked the thinking of the public about the public art and traditional narrative art. However, The Name of the Rose broke this impasse. It won public endorsement not only because it provides something they have already expected, although the readers does not necessarily know themselves. And it also bears highly innovative value. Eco has perfectly fused this work with tradition modernist technique of expression and non-traditional performance practices of post-modernism which itself also shows that the author hope that through the combination of the two in terms of the way of the story can be accepted by the reader as a novel experience. Therefore, The Name of the Rose not only exists as an object of study by scholars, the most important is its recreational value for the public. Such a value is not negative, but a symbol of the combination of popular art and nonfigurative experimental art. The Name of the Rose not only provides a successful example for the writers of detective story, but also serves as a bridge between the popular literature and the elegant literature in terms of its ingenious linguistic performance and extraordinary narrative strategies. |
PDF Full Text Request