NOTES PART I

●​ Interviews have become a commonplace of journalism. Opinions on the functions,

methods and merits of Interview vary considerably.
●​ Some claim it to be the highest form, a source of truth and in its practice an art.
●​ Some despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into lives, which diminishes
their personality.
●​ S. Naipaul feels that ‘some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of
themselves.’ Lewis Carroll never consented to be interviewed for he believed it to be ‘a
just horror of the interviewer’.
●​ Rudyard Kipling considered it ‘immoral, a crime, an assault that merits punishment’.
●​ G. Wells referred to interviewing as an ‘ordeal’.
●​ Saul Bellow describes it ‘like thumbprints on his windpipe’.
●​ Despite the drawbacks, an interview is a supremely serviceable medium of
communication. Interviews are the most vivid impression of our contemporaries and the
interviewer holds a position of unprecedented power and influence.
PART II
●​ An extract from an interview of Umberto Eco interviewed by Mukund Padmanabhan.
Umberto Eco was a professor with a formidable reputation as a scholar for his ideas on
Semiotics, literary interpretation and medieval aesthetics before he turned into writing
literary fiction.
●​ He attained intellectual superstardom with his publication “The Name of the Rose”.
●​ In the interview Eco shares his idea of empty spaces in our lives just as they exist in an
atom, which he calls Interstices.
●​ He says that he makes use of these empty spaces to work. Eco’s essays were
scholarly and narrative. He likes to be identified more as a university professor who
writes novels.
●​ Eco’s "The Name of the Rose”, a serious novel, which delves into metaphysics,
theology and medieval history, enjoyed a mass audience. It dealt with the medieval past.
He feels that the novel wouldn’t have been so well received had it been written ten years
earlier or later

Main Theme
The writer in this piece discusses the merits and demerits of interviews, saying that in today’s
world anyone who is literate must have at some point or the other read or heard an interview.
People have varying opinions on interviews as to some it appears to be the only and most
credible source of truth, while some,especially celebrities, regard it as unnecessary intrusion.
They feel that an interview somehow reduces their status and the fact that information
concerning their lives becomes public makes them feel that they have lost a little part of
themselves. Lewis Carol who was the creator of, ‘Alice inWonderland, ‘took pride in the fact that
he spent time and energy in successfully warding off interviewers. Rudyard Kipling’s wife went
to the extent of saying that in her opinion interviewing was immoral. H.G. Wells kept interviewers
away but ended up being an active interviewer himself on many occasions. Notable among
those he interviewed were Joseph Stalin (A Russian revolutionary) and Saul Bellow (Novelist
and playwright) However, the writer opines that despite all the drawbacks, interviewing is a most
valuable resource. He quotes Denis Brian who said that most of our information comes from
one man asking questions of another and in this respect the interviewer is indeed powerful and
influential.
Question-Answer
1. How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Eco is a university professor who attends academic conferences all week. He finds so much
time to write in the empty spaces that we all have in our lives, just like the structure of atoms
and the Universe. He terms these empty spaces as ‘interstices’. If he is waiting for someone
coming to his house via the escalator, he would use that time to write an essay rather than sit
idle. Therefore, he considers himself a scholar who writes novels on Sundays.
2. What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Generally, academic scholars write false hypotheses, rectify them and then give conclusions.
On the other hand, Umberto takes the readers through the journey of his research, quoting all
the trials and errors to reach the conclusion. His narrative style of writing made him distinctive.
3. Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Umberto Eco identifies himself with the academic community. According to him, he is a
university professor who attends academic conferences all week and writes novels on Sundays.
4. What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
The novel, The Name of the Rose is a hard-read, differentiating it from other novels. It is a
detective narrative that contains metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Thus, it targeted
the audience that is not interested in an easy reading experience, probably not all the time.
However, the success of the novel still remains a mystery. According to Umberto, had the novel
been written ten years earlier or later, it would not have attracted the same proportion of
audience.
[Link] do celebrities despise interviews?
While common people are eager to read the interviews of the celebrities, the very celebrities
have an aversion to being interviewed. Most of them find an interview intruding into their
personal lives while some fear it, some hate it, some consider it immoral and assaulting.
[Link] is V.S. Naipaul’s attitude towards the interview?
VS Naipaul feels that some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves.
[Link] were Lewis Carroll’s fears regarding interviews?
Lewis Carroll says interviews bring unparalleled heights to the person in the society and that
they will be regarded more than what they are and consequently they will lose their friends and
dear ones.
[Link] makes Rudyard Kipling condemn being interviewed?
Rudyard Kipling considered interviews to be immoral. He said it is a crime, just as much of a
crime as an offense against the person interviewed, as an assault, and just as much merits
punishment. He adds that it is cowardly and vile and therefore no respectable man would ask it,
much less give it.
[Link] does Saul Bellow mean by saying that ‘interviews were thumbprints on his
windpipe?’
Saul Bellow used to be allowed to be interviewed yet he used to comment that he used to have
great trouble to be interviewed because it was an experience of his throat being thumbed by his
interviewers.
[Link] does an interview serve a noble purpose in the modern world?
Even though most celebrities condemn interviews, it serves a noble purpose to the rest of the
world. The great thoughts and attitudes of the celebrities reach the common people through the
medium of interview and make people’s life more meaningful and enlightened.
[Link] is the irony in Eco’s statement, ‘I am a professor who writes novels on
Sundays?’
A novelist can never say that he keeps a day for writing novels. Writers are always writers. Yet
Umberto Eco is an exception. Though he is a world famous novelist, he primarily considers
himself as a professor and an academic writer and hardly gets time for writing novels except on
Sundays.
[Link] is Semiotics? How is Eco known in connection with Semiotics?
Semiotics is the study of signs. Eco is a professor of semiotics at the Bologna University, Italy,
and writes academic books on this subject.
[Link] enabled Eco to acquire the equivalent of intellectual superstardom?
Umberto Eco is famous for his books on semiotics and popular for his novels. Besides, he deals
with literary interpretation, medieval aesthetics, literary fiction, academic texts, essays,
children’s books, newspaper articles, etc. This quality of being at the same time able to handle
such a wide range of subjects as a writer enabled him to acquire the equivalent of intellectual
superstardom.
[Link] Eco’s theory of interstices.
There is a lot of empty space between the nucleus and electrons in each atom and if that empty
space is removed, the universe will be as small as a human fist. Even though this is a bit of
exaggeration, Eco wants to say that similar empty spaces are in our lives too and if we remove
them we can find a lot of time to do more.
[Link] does Umberto Eco manage time to write a wide range of books in his limited
time?
Umberto Eco believes that there is a lot of empty space in everyone’s life. If we efficiently make
use of this wasted time, however short they are, we can find a lot of time in our lives. Eco finds
his time to write during such times.
[Link] is the marked departure from a regular academic style that is found in Eco’s
academic books?
Most of the academic books are uninteresting and dry. But Eco’s books on any serious
academic subject are different because his books have a story style where the student can find
characters, incidents and stories that teach the subject of study.
[Link] does Eco balance his botheration of being overshadowed by the fame of a
novelist?
Though Umberto Eco feels that he could not make Semiotics famous or be famous as an
academic writer, he balances that failure against the huge success that he achieved by his
novel which in fact is all about semiotics and the rest of his favorite subjects.