6/10/2023 0 Comments Umberto eco the infinity of lists![]() ![]() one is temped to list on - reach either a certain age or a certain stature, which it is sometimes hard to tell, when they are able to make simple, direct, and yet curiously ambiguous claims and assertions which, had they been made by a lesser figure, would certainly be dismissed out of hand, but coming from the sage achieve a certain matter-of-fact status and attain the aura of profundity. There is a point at which scholars, philosophers, intellectuals (public or otherwise), critics, etc. And how, as a human being, does one face infinity? How does one attempt to grasp the incomprehensible? Through lists, through catalogs, through collections in museums and through encyclopedias and dictionaries. It also wants to create order - not always, but often. What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It’s part of the history of art and literature. ![]() In a Der Spiegel interview from November 2009, Eco explains, ![]() At least from a certain angle of vision explicated and illustrated in Umberto Eco’s The Infinity of Lists: An Illustrated Essay (2009). It may not look like much, but that grocery list sitting on the kitchen counter is a faint visual echo of the beginnings of civilization. ![]()
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