The name of the rose: Novel, film, TV series between intermediality and transmediality

Abstract

we will consider the diverse strategies of adaptation employed in the case of umberto eco’s celebrated novel The Name of the Rose (1980) by examining the intricate passage from eco’s novel to Jean Jacques annaud’s film (The Name of the Rose, 1986) and the new Italian tv series (The Name of the Rose, 2019 – on air). we will look for some translational ‘continuities,’ trying a comparative semiotic analysis of some novel sequences and the film and the tv series. regarding the tv series, we will also explore some extensions and ‘discontinuities’ of transmedia reinterpretations. according to mittell, transmedia storytelling could be both ‘centripetal’ and ‘centrifugal.’ based on this distinction, we analyze the serial construction of the first season of The Name of the Rose, deepening the backstories of the characters or creating a sort of ‘paraquel’ for totally new characters.