Customer Reviews

Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism

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Nowadays, when most authors writing on social and politcal events or trends are motivated primarily by their partisan agendas, it is a refreshing and enlightening experience to read from someone like Umberto Eco. The acclaimed author of FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM and THE NAME Of The ROSE, who also happens to be the world's only famous medievalist and semiotician, is an endangered species: an original thinker, whose ideas and opinions derive not from organizational or ideological loyalties, but rather originate out of independent observation and evaluation. I may disagree with Eco on more than a few things inside this book (as, for example, his uncharacterically unfair treatment of both Mel Gibson and the PASSION Of The CHRIST in the essay "Hands Off My Son!"), but at least these thoughts are his own.

TURNING BACK The CLOCK: HOT WARS And MEDIA POPULISM is a collection of essays based on a number of Umberto Eco's articles and lectures between 2000-2005. The majority of these pieces originally appeared in the Italian newspapers L'espresso and La Repubblica, they are short, informal, even humorous. They are also, however, very serious in their intent, and are models as to what opinion pieces in journalism should be.

Eco's writing here takes on everything from what he terms paleowar vs. neowar (in the essay "Some Reflections on War and Peace), media monopolism and movies to HARRY POTTER and THE DA VINCI CODE (from "Those Who Don't Believe in God Believe in Everything), from Nigerian beauty pageants (in "Beauty Queens, Fundamentalists and Lepers") to political correctness and multiculturalism to Islamist terrorism and Islamophobia as well.

Within this book's 41 collected essays, instead of bullying or haranguing his readers, Eco offers the commonsense and moderation that was once the hallmark of classic humanism and liberalism: That we need not to abandon all values and all standards in order to achieve a tolerant and pluralistic society.

"Turning Back the Clock" is the title of an admirable and entertaining collection of essays, articles, speeches, etc. by famed Italian writer Umberto Eco. Most of these are articles written as a columnist for La Repubblica, and the collection is organized by content, not chronology. Fortunately, it is not necessary to have read any of Eco's novels to enjoy this book.

Eco is of course a gifted writer, and not just in the realm of fiction. While it is perhaps necessary, in particular for the political essays, to have a fairly substantial knowledge of Italian politics and history, one can on the other hand also learn a lot about Italy from Eco's essays. And this is not limited to Italian topics: Eco discusses everything one would expect from him, politics, science, technology, history, philosophy, literature, and art. Consistently reasonable, balanced, and witty, Eco may not be the most provoking and startling of essaysists, but he is sure to be informative and challenging.

In my opinion, the most interesting articles are those where Eco does not directly address current events, but rather talks more generally about the situation of modern European culture(s), about historical and philosophical subjects, and the use of language. The high point here are perhaps the final articles, one of which is a speech given to the Milanesiana in 2001 where he discusses the phrase "dwarves on the shoulders of giants", as well as one on how to accept one's mortality. I can definitely recommend this book to intellectuals.

It does not matter if you agree with everything Eco says - in fact I think that is impossible. The point of reading these articles is to grow your mind and awareness of other ways of thinking.

This is a collection of columns and a few speeches by a noted scholar and novelist of the medieval period. As in all collections, some pieces are better than others, but in this volume, all are good.

Of particular note is the opening piece with thoughts on paleo and neo wars. These terms were new and provocative for me.

Another highlight is the section on the media. Italy's experience in media concentration, having a media entrepreneur to take the reins of government and conflate his interest with that of the country, stands as warning. (For more on this I recommend The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken Over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi.) Eco describes Berlusconi's campaign to weaken the judiciary to serve his own interests. Italy, if it is ever going to control situations such as those described in Gomorrah needs a strong legal system.

Eco explains how in Italy, vibrant print journalism means nothing since everyone is watching a Berlusconi owned channel. Using TV, Berlusconi can state a popular policy, (media populism) but since it is not official, need never implement it or take it to Parliament. It can easily be denied. Sometimes it can be a decoy to get a debate on something so that something else can take place without attention. Foreign affairs can be run this way too.

Other ruminations that impressed me included thoughts on the Miss World pageant in Nigeria, Dr. Watson's experiences in Afganistan, Eco's hate mail, dictators building consensus and Eco's thoughts on living to be 100+.

I was unaware that Eco was a columnist. Throughout this period, he has been right on target. I doubt that many US journalists will publish their columns of 2000-2005 in this way.

TURNING BACK THE CLOCK: HOT WARS AND MEDIA POPULISM provides an intellectual's analysis of modern times in a series of essays which originally appeared in the Italian newspapers La Republica and L'Espresso. Slogans and ideas of hot wars and media, progress and racism, changing technology and popular concerns are all analyzed in a lively series of discussions linked to everyday life and media reports, making this a pick not just for the usual college-level collections strong in social issues, but for general interest lending libraries, as well.

I like Eco, but this is just lightweight stuff. The book is a collection of various newspaper articles, and it shows:
they are light fare, not much to chew on. There is a little article on neo-warfare, which comes to mind, but even that was strained and unsubstantiated; in order to make his case, he had to mis-represent the Kosovo war as one in which there was no clear enemy (and no defined front lines). His acid remarks and criticisms on Berlusconi were amusing, but I've read harder-hitting pieces elsewhere. On the whole, he comes across as a well-read man, possessed of proper instincts; a civilized man, well-educated and moderate, but not a very penetrating thinker. I'm sure that is the result of having to fit your ideas into the format of a newspaper column, but there is a reason why newspapers are thrown into the trash can after you read them: they tend to be brain candy. They certainly don't warrant being a book, unless, that is, you'd want to capitalize on the author's fame to sell a few copies.

This series of essays and columns, as well as a lecture or two, was an eye-opening cultural experience. Thinking I was going to get a "Foucault's Pendulum" view of the world, instead I get a "Behold the Man" view, and an Italian one at that. Truly a wide-ranging, philosophic, and very humorous range of opinions and observations. If I had any problems whatsoever, they would have centered on my lack of European experience (which Signor Eco at least made me aware of), and his obvious (well-deserved) distaste for Silvio Berlusconi (the George Busch/Rupert Murdoch-doppelganger President of Italy). But his overall opinions reflect a man of intelligence and wit, and for that I am thankful that he took the time to publish these articles. They were very enlightening and broadened my perspective on our world-shared commonalities. Thank you, Mr. Eco.

While all things written by Umberto Eco are a delight for the mind, this collection might be his best since Travels in Hyperreality. His genius continues to amaze me.
I'd say that the best essay (in an amazing bunch) would be those referring to the Great Game and power struggles in Central Asia.