Ekphrasis, intersemiotic translation, and transmediality in The Name of the Rose: from novel to film, graphic novel, and TV series

This article investigates a textual mechanism in Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel The Name of the Rose linked to ekphrasis, in order to highlight how literary writing produces various visual, auditory, and kinesthetic effects that mimic a cinematic effect. In my hypothesis, these effects, linked to the poetic nature and iconicity (Greimas, Algirdas J. 1984. Sémiotique figurative et sémiotique plastique [Figurative semiotics and plastic semiotics]. Actes sémiotiques. Documents 60. 1–24) of an aesthetic work, can be interpreted and translated intersemiotically. This happens in different but effective ways in the 1986 film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud The Name of the Rose and in a 2023 graphic novel based on the novel and illustrated by Milo Manara, likewise titled The Name of the Rose. Through a comparison of Eco’s novel and the 2019 TV series The Name of the Rose, directed by Giacomo Battiato, I will demonstrate how derivative texts can reopen the narrative structures of the original novel, unlocking its potential and creating new narrative paths that utilize transmediality.