Open work

Author: Umberto Eco
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Several articles in this book elaborate on a problem proposed in the declaration of the 7th International Congress of Philosophy in 1958, titled "The Open Work Problem." Elaborating on a problem does not mean solving it; it only means clarifying the terms so that deeper discussions can take place. In fact, some articles in this book examine the same phenomenon from different perspectives, using different concepts as tools to explore it in detail. Twelve-tone system music, Joyce, experimental literature, non-figurative painting, kinetic art, the time structure of live television broadcasts, the New Novel, and post-Antonioni and Godard cinema, as well as the application of information theory in aesthetics—all these different perspectives give rise to a view of contemporary art and the cognitive models it proposes, which are presented as "epistemological metaphors." This will independently evolve into a definition of the world, much like the definitions established by new scientific methods. Published in the 1960s, this book sparked a debate in the cultural world that lasted for several years, becoming the starting point for a non-traditional "humanities" aesthetics grounded in the close integration of critical-philosophical issues and scientific issues. The Open Work remains to this day the reference point for discussions on linguistic techniques and the ideological role of 20th-century avant-garde art. Here, the avant-garde art includes both the "historical" avant-garde and the "new avant-garde," for which both a challenging theoretical summary and a detailed critique are provided. This edition includes Eco's preface, as well as a later preface he wrote, along with a comprehensive critical overview—the history of this groundbreaking book being rejected or welcomed.