Narrative and History in the Works of Umberto Eco, Carlo Ginzburg, and Wu Ming

In a world of contested narratives where facts are constantly manipulated, the long-standing relationship between literature and history has acquired new significance. Narrative and History uncovers the intellectual roots, cultural legacy, and ethical and political implications of works that explore, test, and at times blur the boundaries between fiction and history.

Literature and history have continually influenced and challenged one another in style, content, and ambition. This book focuses on contemporary historical novels by Umberto Eco and the Italian writing collective Wu Ming, alongside the essays of the historian Carlo Ginzburg. By bringing them into dialogue, this book traces the development of a distinctive way of writing history that privileges plot, conjecture, characterization, and storytelling. Through both fiction and non-fiction, Eco, Ginzburg, and Wu Ming expand the boundaries of genre and explore the possibilities and limits of historical retelling. Among other topics, this study closely analyzes the underexamined political scope of Eco's novels such as The Name of the Rose, compares the methods adopted by Eco and Ginzburg, discusses how Wu Ming build on their legacy, and assesses the global cultural influence of Ginzburg's benandanti and Menocchio. Offering a word of warning on radical hybrid experiments, Narrative and History presents a compelling account of how narratives about the past shape, and are shaped by, cultural and political concerns in the present