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http://www.radikal.com.tr/ek_haber.php?ek=ktp&haberno=4404
E co'nun
'Krali?e Loana'n?n Gizemli Alevi', 'G?l?n Ad?' gibi 'bulmaca'lardan
ho?lanan okuyucu i?in bir cennet. Bu roman, 'Foucault Sarkac?'n?n
aksine gerilim havas?ndan, gizli ?rg?tlerden ve komplo teorilerinden
uzak
07/10/2005 (357 defa okundu)
Z. HEYZEN ATE? (Ar?ivi)
Eco'nun pop?ler
k?lt?r?
Umberto Eco, son kitab? Krali?e Loana'n?n Gizemli Alevi'nde Giambattista
Bodoni'nin hayat?n? yeniden ke?fedi?inin hik?yesini anlat?yor. Elli
dokuz ya??ndaki antik kitap sat?c?s?, ge?irdi?i inme nedeniyle girdi?i
koman?n ard?ndan haf?zas?n?n b?y?k bir k?sm?n? kaybetmi?tir. G?ndelik
hayat?n bilgisi (neyin nas?l yap?ld???: bir kap?n?n nas?l a??ld???,
nas?l kitap okundu?u vb.) d???nda ona kalan sadece okuduklar?; ?iirlerden
dizeler, roman pasajlar?, filmlerden sahneler ve tiyatro oyunlar?ndan
replikler olur...
Bodoni ya da arkada?lar?n?n ve ailesinin onu ?a??rd??? ad?yla Yambo,
hayat?na dair otobiyografik bilgiyi tamamen yitirmi? oldu?undan
eski g?nlerini hat?rlamak i?in b?t?n hayat?n? yeni ba?tan kurgulamak
zorundad?r. Ben kurgulamak diyorum ??nk? par?alar? birle?tirirken
Yambo hem kendisi, hem de d??ardan bakan biridir hayat?na. (Burada
okuyucuya bir ipucu verelim Bodoni asl?nda bir 18. y?zy?l tipograf?n?n
ve Yambo ad? da bir ?talyan ?izgi roman karakterinin ad?.)
Kar?s? Paola'n?n da yard?m?yla i?e Solara'daki aile evine d?nerek
ba?lar ya?l? adam. B?t?n ?ocuklu?unun ge?ti?i bu evde aileden kalan
belgeler, y?llard?r g?z at?lmam?? mektuplar ve foto?raflarla kaybettiklerini
geri kazanmaya ?al???r. Ne var ki k?sa s?rede fark eder ki bir kapana
k?s?lm?? durumdad?r: Moby Dick'ten al?nt? yapabilir, entelekt?el
tart??malara girebilir ve hatta 'Star Trek'ten dahi bahsedebilir
ama bahsettiklerine kar?? hi?bir ?ey hissedemez.
Yambo'nun kendini ararken d?nd??? y?llar?n ve an?lar?n?n Eco taraf?ndan
semboller ve muhte?em k?lt imgelerle s?slendi?ini s?ylemek yanl??
olmaz. G?l?n Ad?'n?n yazar?n?n bu kitaba serpi?tirdikleri Mussolini
d?nemi propaganda bro??rlerinden Flash Gordon ?izgi romanlar?na
kadar uzanan geni? bir yelpaze olu?turuyor. (Eco, Flash Gordon ?izgi
romanlar?yla Amerikan idealinin Mussoli ?talya's?ndaki ?ocuklar?n
zihnine nas?l yerle?tirildi?ini ele al?yor ?rne?in.) Kitab?n birinci
b?l?m? tam bir t?r pop?ler k?lt?r cennetinde Poe, Conan-Doyle veya
Robert Lewis Stevenson c?mleleri ve ?e?itli k?lt ?ark? s?zlerinin
kar??m?? h?li sanki. Bir t?r beyin ak??? 1940'l? y?llarla s?slenmi?
olan... (Bu b?l?mde benim favori c?mlem "Benim ad?m Arthur Gordon
Pym") Eco, ?e?itli yazarlar?n c?mlelerini Yambo'nun beynine yerle?tirip
onun a?z?ndan, hayat?n? arama s?recinin ?e?itli etaplar?nda d?k?lmelerini
sa?layarak her zamanki ?ok katmanl? okuma s?re?lerinden birine sokmu?
oluyor okuyucuyu.
Eco'nun b?y?kl???...
Yaz?n?n bu noktas?nda bir parantez a?mak gerek. Eco'nun imgelerinin
tamam?n? tek bir okumayla yakalamak -hatta yar?s?n?- elbette m?mk?n
de?il. Zaten gerekli de de?il. Onu b?y?k bir yazar yapan da bu de?il
mi zaten. Herhangi bir okuyucu, ?rne?in Poe'nun Arthur Gordon Pym'inden
habersiz de olsa ve Krali?e Loana'n?n Gizemli Alevi'nde bu kitaba
y?nelik g?ndermelerin hi?birini g?rmese bile ?yk?den alaca?? haz
azalmayacakt?r. Baz? k?s?mlar? biraz akademik bulsa bile b?y?k bir
hevesle okumas?n? s?rd?recek, Yambo'nun ?yk?s?n?n nereye gitti?ini
??renmek isteyecektir.
?te yandan, Eco'nun di?er kitaplar?ndan bu kitaba haz?rl?kl? olanlar
y?zlerce c?mlenin birbirine ba?lad??? ?a?r???m ve altmetin denizinde
s?r?klenecek, b?y?k ihtimalle bu kitab? en az ?? kez okuyacak ve
her seferinde ba?ka bir anlam ke?fedecekler. Bir par?a ara?t?rmac?
olanlarsa, tahminen birka? ay harcayacaklar, kimsenin D'Annunzio'nun
Notturno'sunu ya da Georges Rodenbach'?n ?iirlerini ezbere bilmedi?i
varsay?m?na dayanarak s?yl?yorum bunu. Krali?e Loana'n?n Gizemli
Alevi, ?rne?in G?l?n Ad? gibi- bulmacalardan ho?lanan okuyucu i?in
bir cennet. Ama bu roman, Foucault Sarkac?'n?n aksine gerilim havas?ndan,
gizli ?rg?tlerden veya komplo teorilerinden uzak. Daha tehlikeli
bir evrende ge?ti?ini s?yleyebiliriz asl?nda: ?nsan kendi beyninin
derinlerine indi?inde orada kar??s?na ??kacaklar d??ar?dan birinin
yarataca?? ac?dan ?ok daha a??rlar?n? yaratabilir ne de olsa.
Yukar?da yazd?klar?m g?z?n? korkutmamal? okuyucunun. Eco, ?yle bir
bi?im kullan?yor ki kitab?nda b?t?n bu i?erik rahat?a okunabilir
ve hatta ula??labilir h?le geliyor okuyan i?in. Kitab?n kahraman?n?n
ge?irdi?i de?i?imler, ak?c?l??? da beraberinde getiriyor. Yambo,
kapana k?s?lm??l?k duygusuyla ufak tefek birka? geli?me aras?nda
bir yerde y?n?n? de?i?tiriyor ?rne?in. Amac?n?n nas?l bir de?i?ikli?e
u?rad???n? buraya yazmayaca??m ama bu de?i?iklik yukar?da bahsetti?im
t?rdeki okuyucuyu o noktaya kadar okudu?u sat?rlarda asl?nda ne
oldu?unu yeniden sorgulamaya g?t?r?rken daha d?z bir okuma yapmay?
tercihen eden okuyucular? da kitaba yeniden ba?lam?? oluyor. Eco'nun
'b?y?k'l???n?n de buradan kaynakland???na inan?yorum. Sartre'dan
c?mleler, felsefi tart??malar, hayat?n anlam?, Baudelaire, Star
Trek, Jack London, Shakespeare, Fellini, Huysman ve Sherlock Holmes
ba?ka kimin kitab?nda bir araya gelebilirlerdi ki?
Kitab?n ikinci yar?s?nda okuyucu kadar Yambo da kendi hakk?nda yeni
?eyler ??renecek daha do?rusu onun hayat?ndaki olaylar kendisi i?in
farkl? anlamlar kazanacak. Hat?rlama s?reci de?erlendirme s?reciyle
birlikte i?ledi?inden Yambo, 'oldu?u' ki?iden farkl? bir karakter
bulacak kendinde.
Ya?, haf?za ve nostalji... Krali?e Loana'n?n Gizemli Alevi'ni anlatan
?? kelime. Yetmi? ?? ya??ndaki Eco, bu roman?yla yeniden parl?yor,
kurguyla an?lar?n? kar??t?rarak. Kendi tabiriyle: "Kitapta kendiminkinden
?ok farkl? bir karakter yaratt?m, bu sayede de benim olan an?lar?
yazsam bile ?zel hayat?ma dokunulmam?? hissettim. Hemen herkes on
alt? ya??ndayken birilerine ???k olmu?tur ?rne?in, ama asla bahsetmezler.
Eh, bu sefer, k?z ger?ekten benim ???k oldu?um k?z..."
KRAL??E LOANA'NIN G?ZEML? ALEV?
Umberto Eco, ?eviren: ?emsa Gezgin, Do?an Kitap, 2005, 448 sayfa,
20 YTL.
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| http://www.harcourtbooks.com/authorinterviews/bookinterview_Eco.asp |
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| Synopsis |
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Yambo, a sixtyish rare-book dealer who lives in Milan,
has suffered a loss of memory?he can remember the plot of every
book he has ever read, every line of poetry, but he no longer knows
his own name, doesn't recognize his wife or his daughters, and remembers
nothing about his parents or his childhood. In an effort to retrieve
his past, he withdraws to the family home somewhere in the hills
between Milan and Turin.There, in the sprawling attic, he searches
through custom gift boxes of old newspapers, comics, records, photo albums,
and adolescent diaries. And so Yambo relives the story of his generation:
Mussolini, Catholic education and guilt, Josephine Baker, Flash
Gordon, Fred Astaire. His memories run wild, and the life racing
before his eyes takes the form of a graphic novel. Yambo struggles
through the frames to capture one simple, innocent image: that of
his first love. A fascinating, abundant
new novel?wide-ranging, nostalgic, funny, full of heart?from the
incomparable Eco.
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Interview |
Q:
The main character, Giambattista "Yambo" Bodoni, loses his memory;
and, in an attempt to rediscover his past, he retreats to his childhood
home. He sifts through decades-old newspapers and magazines, and
rereads beloved stories and comic books from his youth. Yambo also
listens to old records and replays the lyrics in his mind. What
aspects of this novel are reflective of your life?
A: Since I tell about the thirties
and the forties of the last century, I am remembering the period
of my childhood and adolescence. It is obvious that the majority
of the memories of those times are my personal memories, and that
all the images of magazines, disks, and comic books are the images
of my personal memorabilia. But I did not want to write my own autobiography,
but rather the biography of a generation. In this sense I gave Yambo
memories that were not mine. I tried to design the adult Yambo as
a person different from me, and the child Yambo had experiences
(like the one at the Gorge) that I did not happily have.
Q: Throughout the novel,
you use various elements to illustrate Yambo's struggle with his
memory loss. For instance, you use quotes and references about fog.
How does this image tell Yambo's story?
A: Apart from the fact that I was
born in the fog, my memory is full of foggy visions, and I adore
fog (to such an extent that I collected an anthology of literary
pages about fog, from Homer to our time); fog is an inevitable metaphor
for the loss of memory. The irony is that Yambo has lost his own
personal memories but not his cultural memory: Thus he is obsessed
by words about fog, words of the authors he remembers, about something
(the fog) of which he has no more visual memory, because it belonged
to his private, personal life.
Q: Yambo also experiences
a "crescendo of mysterious flames." And in fact,
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
was a story that Yambo stumbled upon in the chapel. How does this
"most insipid tale" typify Yambo's plight?
A: As for the mysterious flame, I
must say that when thinking of this novel, before starting writing
it, I decided that its title should be
The Mysterious Flame of the Queen Loana. Why? Because I remembered
the title of that old comic book, only the title, not the story,
but that title evidently fascinated me when I was a kid. Once I
stated that that had to be the title of my book, it came as a natural
consequence that Yambo, when feeling the strange sensation of recognizing
something of his past, thinks of that sensation as a sort of flame.
The Mysterious Flame was in fact
inspired by a famous novel, She, by Rider Haggard. Or worse, it
was a plagiarism from Atlantide by Pierre Benoit, a French author
who was accused of having copied the story of Rider Haggard. Being
the copy of a copy it was not a great masterpiece. But I repeat,
what fascinated me was the title and the same happens to Yambo.
Having preserved only his cultural and public memory, he is obsessed
by words; he has lost things (including the story of Loana) and
has remained only with words.
Q: This novel is filled with
meticulous detail?from the summaries of many books and the recollection
of lyrics, to accounts of comic-book heroes and the description
of assorted stamps. What did your research entail?
A: During my adult life I have retrieved
many memorabilia of my childhood. I no longer had my early schoolbooks
but I managed to find them again, exploring flea markets and old
bookstores. Thus, most of my images come from my personal collection.
As for the rest, I spent at least two years rummaging and browsing
through bookstalls. I did not have to discover anything, only to
recover. I kept in my mind vivid images of all the items of my childhood,
and I had only to retrieve them again.
Q: You wrote
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
around handwritten letters, dusty publications, and books with beautiful
covers. How do you feel about the emergence of an electronic?almost
paperless?age?
A: Many of my old papers were recovered
through the Internet. For instance, it is through the Internet that
I succeeded in reconstructing the stamp collection I had put together
at the age of twelve. It would have been impossible to retrieve
all these stamps except by surfing the Internet. And on the Internet
all these memorabilia were advertised as real objects that one could
buy. Thus you see that the Internet is not always substituting paper,
sometimes it can be a way to salvage it.
Q: Brother William from
The Name of the Rose (Harcourt,
1983), Baudolino from Baudolino
(Harcourt, 2002), and Yambo from your most recent novel. Of all
of your characters, which one would you like to meet, and why?
A: To meet? But they are all around
me and we chat every day?
Q: When writing epic novels
such as The Name of the Rose and
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana,
where do your biggest challenges lie?
A: The real challenge is to make
the writing process last as long as possible, always delaying the
moment of the end. It is so beautiful to live for many years with
your story, while nobody else is knowing what are you doing, and
in every moment you can pick up an idea or an image from your everyday
experiences? I cannot understand these authors who concoct a new
novel every year. Where is the fun, then?
Q: You've published thirteen
books with Harcourt, with genres ranging from historical fiction,
juvenile fiction, and mystery and detective stories, to literary
criticism, semiotics, and linguistics. How would you classify yourself
as an author?
A: I am a scholar who during the
weekends writes novels instead of playing golf.
Q: Living in Milan, Italy,
you're a professor at the University of Bologna, where you head
the communication sciences program, and you write an opinion column
for the Italian publication L'Espresso. With On Literature?a collection
of essays and addresses?being released last year and now
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana,
are you currently writing any more novels?
A: The answer is no for a very simple
reason. Every book, when published, takes at least two years of
your life. Like children, you must take care of them until the moment
they can walk by themselves. After being published in a given language,
a new book requests a lot of work for interacting with the translators,
for reading and answering a lot of letters, to give interviews,
like now. And the two years have not yet expired.
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