Hollywood Detectives. "The Name of the Rose"

Abstract or Introduction

When on 16th of August in 1968 Umberto Eco encountered a book by some Abbé Vallet he had found the plot for his first novel, which was to become a bestseller. Thus the novel, when published in 1980, had an immense impact on the reader, who could choose from a large apparatus of secondary literature immediately after the appearance of the Eco’s novel. Although it seems that the novel is far to rich for any classification – it can be read as a detective novel as well as a philosophical paper, or as a historical novel as well as a work on semiotics – Eco probably has started a new genre, which has become a real boom. In almost any bookstore of today we are able to choose from murder mysteries a là Conan Doyle that take place in ancient Egypt or classic Rome, in the dark Medievals or in industrial 19th century. The genre of the historic crime novel not only includes the typical traits of a historic plot with appropriate settings within the time scheme of the era, but also the genius of an almost non failing detective figure that is accompanied by a student, or assistant who has to be taught the merits of logical thinking and abduction, thus abduction is central in the methods of Baskerville, who then becomes related to Holmes, the most famous fictional detective. Another quite obvious “proof” for classification might be the title “Name of the Rose,” which conveys the impression of a historic title. The film even plays with this, when it names itself as a palimpsest of Eco’s novel.