Serendipities
Encyclopedia
Serendipities: Language and Lunacy (originally published in English, translated by William Weaver) is a 1998 collection of essays by Umberto Eco
. Dealing with the history of linguistics
and Early Modern concepts of a perfect language, the material in
the book overlaps with La ricerca della lingua perfetta. As Eco explains it in his preface, serendipity is the positive outcome of
some ill conceived idea.
Chapters:
In Chapter 1, based on a 1994 lecture held at Bologna University, Eco introduces his thesis about consequences of erroneous beliefs.
Chapter 2 contains essentially the same material as chapters 1 and 3 of La ricerca della lingua perfetta, while Chapter 3 is a
reworking of its chapters 7 and 14(5). Chapters 4 and 5 have been published as essays in honor of Luigi Rosiello and deal with La Terre Australe connue by Gabriel de Foigny
and Joseph de Maistre's views as exposed in his Soirees de Saint Petersbourg.
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
. Dealing with the history of linguistics
History of linguistics
Linguistics as a study endeavors to describe and explain the human faculty of language.In ancient civilization, linguistic study was originally motivated by the correct description of classical liturgical language, notably that of Sanskrit grammar by , or by the development of logic and rhetoric...
and Early Modern concepts of a perfect language, the material in
the book overlaps with La ricerca della lingua perfetta. As Eco explains it in his preface, serendipity is the positive outcome of
some ill conceived idea.
Chapters:
- The Force of Falsity
- Languages in Paradise
- From Marco PoloMarco PoloMarco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
to Leibniz: Stories of Intellectual Misunderstandings - The Language of the Austral Land
- The Linguistics of Joseph de MaistreJoseph de MaistreJoseph-Marie, comte de Maistre was a French-speaking Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat. He defended hierarchical societies and a monarchical State in the period immediately following the French Revolution...
In Chapter 1, based on a 1994 lecture held at Bologna University, Eco introduces his thesis about consequences of erroneous beliefs.
Chapter 2 contains essentially the same material as chapters 1 and 3 of La ricerca della lingua perfetta, while Chapter 3 is a
reworking of its chapters 7 and 14(5). Chapters 4 and 5 have been published as essays in honor of Luigi Rosiello and deal with La Terre Australe connue by Gabriel de Foigny
Gabriel de Foigny
Gabriel de Foigny is the author of an important utopia, La Terre Australe connue, 1676.-Life:All we know about Foigny, including his identity , is based exclusively on the second edition of Pierre Bayle's Dictionnaire historique et critique...
and Joseph de Maistre's views as exposed in his Soirees de Saint Petersbourg.
Editions
- Columbia University Press (1998) ISBN 0231111347.
- Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999
- Harvest Books (1999) ISBN 0156007517.