Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Bookish Blogging: Ceci n'est pas une pipe . . . ou un cigare

I'm looking at the cover to my gritty copy of Umberto Eco's edited volume Interpretation and Overinterpretation and wondering what it means that Eco's shown smoking a cigarette.

Theologian Michael P. Foley might interpret this as indicative of "the appetitive part of . . . [Eco's] soul" -- unlike a cigar or pipe, which would signify the "spirited" or "rational" parts, respectively.

But that might be reading the wrong message into the cover's iconographic significance. More likely, it's simply an 'everyday rebellion' against political correctness.

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