符号的世界——昂贝托•埃柯长篇小说《玫瑰之名》中的“迷宫图书馆”探究

The World of Symbol—Study of the Labyrinthic Library in Umberto Eco’s Novel The Name of the Rose

意大利符号学家昂贝托•埃科(Umberto Eco)的长篇小说《玫瑰之名》描绘了中世纪意大利一所修道院的一系列命案。修道院的禁区——图书馆是整部小说最为重要的场景之一,其错综复杂的构造则暗合了“迷宫”这一常见文学主题。作者通过小说中对二元符号“图书馆/迷宫”的设计展现了他对符号学和建筑学的一些思考,而该符号所体现的统一性、矛盾性及其中世纪背景则带来多重的文本诠释可能。此外,根据小说改编的同名电影《玫瑰之名》虽然在图书馆设计和相关情节上有所变动,但意在强化符号的无限性,本质上仍与小说中图书馆的形象一脉相承。

The Italian semiotician Umberto Eco’s novel Il nome della rosa (Eng.: The name of the rose) depicts a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery. The forbidden zone of the monastery, the library, is one of the most important scenes of the whole novel. The intricacy of the library corresponds with a common literary theme-labyrinth. The dual design of the symbol “library/labyrinth” is a showcase of the author’s semiotic and architectural research. The contradiction and unity of the symbol along with the medieval background of the novel lead to multiple interpretation possibilities. Besides, although the design of the library has been adapted in the film The Name of the Rose, the adaption is intended to strengthen the infinity of the symbol, which in essence is still consistent with the novel.