The University of Bologna honours Umberto Eco with the first international conference on his cultural legacy
Ten years after the death of the semiotician and University of Bologna professor, more than 300 scholars from Italian and international universities and research centres will gather at the University for a three-day event organised by the University of Bologna’s Umberto Eco International Centre for the Humanities. Alongside the conference, a series of events will engage the wider public and reaffirm the deep bond between Eco, Bologna and the University
Ten years after the death of Umberto Eco, the University of Bologna is dedicating to the great intellectual the first international academic conference on his work and cultural legacy. From 27 to 29 May, the University will host “Ereditare Eco. Umberto Eco, l’Università di Bologna e tutti i saperi del mondo” (Inheriting Eco. Umberto Eco, the University of Bologna and all the knowledge in the world), a three-day programme of study, meetings and initiatives promoted by the Umberto Eco International Centre for the Humanities (CUE). The project follows Eco’s own request that 10 years should pass before conferences were held on his work, reflecting his belief that time alone can decide what is worth remembering, what is best left behind, and what is instead destined to endure and generate new thought.
More than 300 scholars from around the world will take part in the initiative, which will be held across seven departments of the University of Bologna and bring some of the most authoritative voices in contemporary culture to the city.
The event is therefore conceived not as a commemorative celebration, but as a major international forum for ideas spanning Eco’s many fields of knowledge, from fiction to semiotics, from philosophy to the media, from the Middle Ages to translation. An “open work” conference, true to the spirit of the professor who founded the department of Drama, Art and Music Studies (DAMS) at the University of Bologna, established the Semiotics Chair and created the first PhD programme in Semiotics, leaving a profound mark on the cultural life of both the University and the city.
Among the invited speakers are internationally renowned figures such as Susan Bassnett, Laurent Binet, Maurizio Ferraris, Jacques Fontanille, Umberto Longo, Alexander Stille and Jean Petitot.
In the parallel sessions of the three-day event, more than 200 papers will be presented, structured around thematic panels and divided into six sections: Fiction, Semiotics, Philosophy and the History of Ideas, Interpreting and Translation, Media, and the Middle Ages.
Alongside the academic programme, a series of cultural events open to all will take place from 26 to 29 May to engage the wider community and reaffirm the deep bond between Eco, Bologna and his university.
On Tuesday 26 May, from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm, a documentary by Davide Ferrario titled “Umberto Eco, la biblioteca del mondo” (Umberto Eco. The world’s library], will be screened at Cinema Modernissimo (Piazza Re Enzo 3, Bologna). Focusing on Umberto Eco’s private library, the documentary offers a portrait of the man — bibliophile, semiotician and man of letters — through his vast personal collection of more than 30,000 contemporary volumes and 1,500 rare and antique books. The event is organised in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna and under the auspices of the Municipality of Bologna.
On Wednesday 27 May, from 7 to 8.30 pm, the DAMSLab (Piazzetta P. P. Pasolini 5b, Bologna) will host the musical event “Ecolalie. Umberto Eco, il suono, la musica” (Echoes of Eco. Umberto Eco, the sound and music), curated by Emiliano Battistini, Andrea Valle and Francesco Giomi, with a contribution by Maurizio Bettini. The event is organised in collaboration with the Bologna Conservatory and with the support of the PNRR IRACF project – INTERNATIONAL ROUTES: ARTS CREATING FUTURE.
On Thursday 28 May, from 6 pm to 7.30 pm, Sala Borsa – Auditorium Enzo Biagi (Piazza del Nettuno 3, Bologna) will host a round table under the auspices of the Municipality of Bologna titled “Il libro... la passione predominante. Umberto Eco, i libri, l’editoria” (Books… the ruling passion. Umberto Eco, books and publishing), drawing on his statement “Do not expect to get rid of books”. Participants include Mario Andreose, Nave di Teseo – Milan, Giulio Blasi (Horizon/MLOL, Bologna), James M. Bradburne (CIRCI, Reggio Emilia), Beppe Cottafavi (Editor, Modena) and Elisabetta Sgarbi (Nave di Teseo – Milan).
The final event in the programme will take place on Friday 29 May, from 6.30 to 7.30 pm, at the Zeri Foundation (Piazza Giorgio Morandi 2, Bologna), where translators of Eco’s works and others will gather for a round table titled “Tradurre e non tradire? Il piacere della parola tra una lingua e l’altra” (Translating without betraying? The pleasure of words between languages).
Speakers include Elena Kostioukovitch (Milan), Helena Lozano Miralles (Department of Humanities – University of Trieste), Siri Neergard (Department of Languages and Literature Studies – University of South-Eastern Norway) and Tadahiko Wada (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies).