The Historical Novel: Past, Reality and Future from Interpretation to Sociological Analysis

ABSTRACT: The article constitutes a study in the sociology of literature. It proposes a reflection on the communicative value of a historical novel and discusses several levels of interpretation in works that belong to this genre. The main issue discussed here is the possibility of treating Western literary works about the past as an element of the discourse on the present state of culture, the condition of Western civilization, and possible prospects for the future. What constitutes an integral part of the text is also a sample of sociological interpretation of the novel The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. “A sample,” because the elements of the analysis of this well-known work presented here are a suggestion on how one could, perchance, examine a literary work from a sociological point of view, using sources external to the novel.