The first comprehensive study in English of Umberto Eco's theories and fictions.

The Films of Roberto Rossellini traces the career of one of the most influential Italian filmmakers through close analysis of the seven films that mark important turning points in his evolution: The Man with a Cross (1943), Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), The Machine to Kill Bad People (1948-52), Voyage in Italy (1953), General della Rovere(1959), and The Rise to Power of Louis XIV (1966). Beginning with Rossellini's work within the fascist cinema, it discusses his invention of neorealism, a new cinematic style that resulted in several classics during the immediate postwar period. Almost...

Umberto Eco is known among academics for his literary and cultural theories, and to an enormous international audience through his novels The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum. Peter Bondanella offers the first comprehensive study in English of Eco's works. In clear and accessible language, he traces the development of Eco's interests, from medieval aesthetics to semiotics to popular culture, and shows how Eco's own fiction grows out of his literary and cultural theories. Bondanella also provides a full bibliography of works by and about Eco, arguably the most famous Italian writer...

This study provides a broad-ranging introduction to the major trends in the development of the Italian novel from its early modern origins to the contemporary era. It examines some of the most influential and important novelists of the twentieth century, such as Luigi Pirandello, Primo Levi, Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino. Readers will be exposed to the vitality of the Italian novel throughout its history, in addition to learning about the debates and criticism that have contributed to its development.

There is a wealth of critical commentary on Umberto Eco in scholarly books and articles; this collection provides thought-provoking insights into topics that have attracted a great deal of attention in the past without repeating many of the arguments found in earlier publications on Eco. Representing the most active scholars writing on Eco from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, the international panel of authors provides sophisticated engagement with Eco's contributions to a wide range of academic disciplines (semiotics, popular culture, linguistics, aesthetics, philosophy, medieval...

Set against the background of the Black Death of 1348, Boccaccio's undisputed masterpiece recaptures both the tragedies and comedies of medieval life and is surely one of the greatest achievements in the history of literature. Revised reissue.

A major new interpretation of the impact of ancient Rome on our culture, this study charts the effects of two diametrically opposed views of Roman antiquity: the virtuous republic of self-less citizen soldiers and the corrupt empire of power-hungry tyrants. The power of these images is second only to those derived from Christianity in constructing our modern culture. Few modern readers are aware of how indebted we are to the Roman model of our political philosophy, art, music, cinema, opera, and drama.

Originally published in 1987.

A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press...

There is a wealth of critical commentary on Umberto Eco in scholarly books and articles; this collection provides thought-provoking insights into topics that have attracted a great deal of attention in the past without repeating many of the arguments found in earlier publications on Eco. Representing the most active scholars writing on Eco from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, the international panel of authors provides sophisticated engagement with Eco's contributions to a wide range of academic disciplines (semiotics, popular culture, linguistics, aesthetics, philosophy, medieval...