Umberto Eco played jazz in Sofia

By: Svetlana Dicheva, Bulgarian National Radio

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In the end of november the world-renowned Italian novelist and semiotician Umberto Eco, author of "The name of the rose", "The Foulcault's pendulum", "The Island of the day before" and "Baudolino", came to Sofia to take part in the International conference "Around Umberto Eco - signs, representations, interpretations - European cultural identity". The famous scholar in semiotics gave a lecture on the concept of boundaries in European culture. Talking to a fully packed hall he presented a brilliant walk through his theories of interpretation, adorning them with eloquent metaphors and diverting comments."None of the labyrinth's directions is privileged, freedom is limited by fake exits and merged walls", concluded the novelist, analysing the obstacles in human thoughts and social life. But the process of creation in art consists of overcoming the obstacles, he said courageously.

The conference was attended by many famous guests such as Jean-Marc Ferry from Brussels, the author of the book "The question of the European state:its ethical substance"; Philippe Roger, Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes et Sciences Sociales in Paris, editor of the journal "Critique", which was founded by Georges Bataille and Gianni Vattimo, Professor of philosophy at the University of Turin, the author of the book "The end of modernity". One of the most interesting participant at the conference was Francois Rastier, a man of the stormy 1968 generation. During the students' disturbances he decided to join the working class. After a rude awakening he returned to his academic occupations, although remaining left-winger.