After the opening essay on the general significance of literature, Eco examines a number of major authors from the Western canon. A stimulating chapter on the poetic qualities of Dante's "Paradiso" is followed by one on the style of the Communist Manifesto. The next three essays centre on nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature: one on the French writer Nerval's masterpiece, "Sylvie" (a major influence on Eco and a novella that he translated into Italian), one on Oscar Wilde's love of paradox, and one on Joyce's views on language. The last three pieces deal with the road that leads from Cervantes via Swift to Borges' "Library of Babel", then an essay on Eco's own anxiety about Borges' influence on him, and the volume ends with an article on the enigmatic Italian critic and anthropologist Piero Camporesi. "On Literature" is a provocative and entertaining collection of sprightly essays on the key texts that have shaped Eco, the novelist and critic. This volume will appeal to anyone interested in how new light is shed on old masters by a great contemporary mind.

當代歐洲最著名的學者和作傢。讓我們與他為鄰。

《劍橋意大利文學史》將翁貝托·艾柯（Umberto Eco, 1932- ）譽為20世紀後半期最耀眼的意大利作傢，並盛贊他那“貫穿於職業生涯的‘調停者’和‘綜閤者’意識” 。艾柯的世界遼闊而又多重，除瞭隨筆、雜文和小說，還有大量論文、論著和編著，研究者將其粗略分為8大類52種 ，包含中世紀神學研究、美學研究、文學研究、大眾文化研究、符號學研究和闡釋學研究等。而艾柯最引人矚目的，是他在多個世界間輕鬆遊走的能力、還有那不保守也不過激的精神。正是這種能力和精神，使他既感興趣於最經院主義的托馬斯·阿奎那，也熱衷於最現代主義的詹姆斯·喬伊斯；既強調闡釋的力量，又擔心過度闡釋的危害；既能使作品成為行銷全球、印數韆萬的暢銷書，也能吸引研究者為之寫齣數以韆計的論文和專著。

本小組歡迎一切喜歡、欣賞艾柯其人其作的讀者加入。