Q.What does Umberto Eco mean when he says he is 'a professor who writes novels on Sundays'? (The Interview)

The question asks us to complete a sentence based on Umberto Eco's statements in "The Interview" chapter, specifically regarding the ethical interest of his children's books. To answer this, we need to recall Eco's perspective on the purpose and themes of his literature for younger audiences.

Eco, a renowned semiotician, essayist, and novelist, was known for his profound intellectual engagement with various forms of media and communication. In the interview, he discusses his diverse body of work, which includes complex academic texts, best-selling novels, and also books for children. He views all his work, including children's literature, as having an underlying ethical dimension.

His children's books, in particular, are not just stories but vehicles for conveying important moral lessons. Eco explicitly mentions that these books are about teaching children the values of non-violence and fostering a sense of peace. This aligns with his broader philosophical outlook, which often critiqued societal issues and promoted critical thinking and humanistic values. Therefore, the ethical interest in his children's books stems from their focus on these positive societal values.

1. Identify the subject: The question refers to "Eco," which is Umberto Eco, the Italian academic and novelist featured in "The Interview" chapter. …

The context in The Interview

In Part II of The Interview (Flamingo), Mukund Padmanabhan raises David Lodge's puzzled remark — "How can one man do all the things he does?" Eco answers that he only appears to be doing many things: he is "always doing the same thing". Asked what that is, he explains that he has philosophical interests and pursues them through his academic work and his novels — even his children's books, he adds, are about non-violence and peace, "the same bunch of ethical, philosophical interests". The question asks which line shows how those interests are represented, i.e., the channels through which they take shape.

Weighing each option

• (A) "Aah, now that is more difficult to explain." — This is Eco's hesitation before he explains; it signals difficulty but carries no information about how the interests are expressed.
• (B) "I have a secret." — This line belongs to Eco's discussion of his "interstices" — how he finds time to write so much. It is about time management, not philosophy. …

The question comes from the chapter The Interview (from the Class 12 English Flamingo textbook), where Umberto Eco, the famous Italian novelist and semiotician, is being interviewed. He uses this striking physical analogy to explain a deeper point about how meaning works — not just in the universe, but in language, art, and human interaction.

Eco’s field, semiotics, studies signs and how they create meaning. A core insight is that meaning arises from contrast and absence, not just from presence. Silence gives shape to sound; empty space gives shape to matter. If you removed every gap, every pause, every blank — you’d be left with a dense, meaningless lump. That’s the idea behind his “fist-sized universe” remark.

Let’s walk through the logic step by step.

1. The literal image

   Eco says: if you took all the matter in the universe and packed it together, removing every bit of empty space between atoms and between stars, the entire cosmos would shrink to something you could hold in your hand — roughly the size of a fist. This is a scientifically plausible thought experiment: matter is mostly empty space at the atomic level.

2. The metaphorical point

   But Eco isn’t teaching physics. He’s using this extreme image to make a point about communication. In an interview, he says, silence and pauses are as important as words. If you removed all the “empty spaces” — the gaps, the hesitations, the things left unsaid — the conversation would become an unintelligible, overwhelming rush. Meaning would collapse.

3. The link to his own work

   Eco applies this to his novels. He deliberately leaves “empty spaces” — gaps for the reader to fill in. A book that explains everything leaves no room for the reader’s imagination. The “fist-sized universe” is a warning against over-explaining, against filling every silence.

4. The exam-relevant takeaway …

The question asks what Eco reveals about himself — not just what he says, but what his words and tone disclose about his personality, values, and worldview. The extract (from the chapter The Interview in the Class 12 English textbook) captures a conversation where Eco discusses his prolific output, his multiple roles as academic, novelist, and essayist, and his philosophy of work.

The key insight is that Eco does not see himself as a "workaholic" or a man driven by frantic productivity. Instead, he reveals a person who has found a way to integrate his passions so seamlessly that work feels like play. He calls his approach "interstitial" — he writes in the gaps between other activities, never forcing himself to sit down for long, grim hours. This is not laziness; it is a deliberate, almost Zen-like strategy.

Let’s break down what he reveals, step by step.

1. He is a person who rejects the label of "workaholic."

   When the interviewer suggests he must work very hard to produce so many books, Eco gently corrects him. He says he is not a workaholic — he simply uses "empty spaces" (intervals between lectures, waiting for a train, etc.) to write. This reveals a man who is self-aware and unwilling to accept a cliché about himself. He knows his own rhythm and defends it.

2. He reveals a playful, unhurried attitude toward intellectual creation.

   Eco says he writes novels "on Sundays" and academic papers "during the week," but the tone is light, not burdened. He compares his writing to "playing the piano" — something he does because he enjoys it, not because he must. This shows that he sees creativity as a natural, joyful act, not a grim duty. The word "play" is crucial: it suggests freedom, curiosity, and a lack of anxiety.

3. He reveals a deep integration of his multiple identities.

   Eco was a semiotician, a medievalist, a novelist, a journalist, and a children’s author. In the extract, he does not present these as conflicting roles. Instead, he says they all come from the same "curiosity" and "obsession" with patterns and meaning. This reveals a unified intellectual personality — he does not compartmentalise his life. His academic rigour feeds his fiction, and his playful fiction keeps his academic writing fresh.

4. He reveals a quiet confidence — even humility — about his success.

   When asked about the phenomenal success of The Name of the Rose, Eco does not boast. He says he was "surprised" and that he wrote it "for himself." This reveals a man who is not driven by fame or external validation. He writes to satisfy his own intellectual and aesthetic needs; the public response is secondary. This is a mark of genuine, intrinsic motivation.

5. He reveals a philosophical stance on time and productivity. …

The question asks for the specific example Eco offers when he explains his idea of working in 'interstices'.

Eco's point is that a day is full of tiny, empty spaces that most people simply let slip by. Rather than treating these gaps as dead time, he fills them with small bursts of work, and this is how a university professor also manages to produce novels, essays and other writing. …

The question asks what 'secret' Eco is talking about in the interview. When the interviewer wonders how one person can turn out scholarly works, essays, novels and even children's books, Eco replies, half-playfully, that he has a secret.

That secret is not a matter of special talent or grim discipline. It is his way of using time. Eco explains that everyday life is full of small empty spaces — the minutes spent waiting, travelling, or between one task and the next — which most people waste. He calls these gaps 'interstices', and he fills them with short bursts of work. Because he never lets these little intervals go to waste, they add up to a large body of writing over time. …

Eco's own definition

Asked how one man produces so much, Umberto Eco reveals his "secret": "There are a lot of empty spaces in our lives. I call them interstices." He then gives his famous illustration — while a visitor rides the elevator up to his flat, those idle moments before the doors open are an interstice, "an empty space", and in that gap he works (he even says that in the time the visitor's elevator takes to arrive, he has already written an article). Working "in interstices" therefore means using the small in-between gaps of time that others let slip away.

Why the distractors fail

• (B) when he is in the university — Eco's point is the opposite of a fixed workplace or schedule: interstices are the gaps between such commitments, wherever they occur (even the idle moments before an elevator arrives).
• (C) on his philosophical interest — The interstices explain when he works, not what he works on. His philosophical interests are a separate thread of the interview. …

Umberto Eco, the Italian intellectual who died in 2016, was a figure of extraordinary range. The NCERT chapter The Interview introduces him primarily through his own words in an interview with Mukund Padmanabhan. In that conversation, Eco describes himself as an “academic” first — a professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna — and a novelist second. This is the key to understanding his identity.

The question asks you to pick the correct combination from the options. Let’s look at what the NCERT text actually says. Eco tells the interviewer that he sees himself as a “university professor who writes novels on Sundays.” He adds that he is a “semiotician” by profession. So his core identity is that of a professor of semiotics. But he is also a celebrated novelist — The Name of the Rose made him world-famous. He wrote many other novels, essays, and academic works. So “author” fits him perfectly, covering both his fiction and non-fiction writing.

Now examine the other options. Option (b) says “an interviewer, a novelist” — but Eco is the one being interviewed, not the interviewer. Option (c) says “a journalist, a professor” — Eco was not a journalist by profession, though he wrote for newspapers occasionally. Option (d) says “a publisher, an author” — Eco was never a publisher. The NCERT text does not mention him working as a publisher. So only option (a) matches the facts given in the chapter: professor of semiotics and author (novelist). …

The chapter "The Interview" from the NCERT syllabus explores the multifaceted nature of interviews through the experiences and perspectives of various prominent personalities. Among them is Umberto Eco, the celebrated Italian academic, novelist, and semiotician, whose insights into his work habits and time management are particularly revealing. The extract focuses on his unique approach to productivity, which allows him to maintain an incredibly prolific output across diverse fields.

Let us examine the two statements in light of the details provided in the chapter.

Statement I: Umberto Eco works even in the spare time between activities.

This statement is strongly supported by the text. Umberto Eco himself explains his extraordinary productivity by stating that he works in the "interstices" – the small, often overlooked gaps between major activities. He describes how he uses these brief moments, such as waiting for an elevator or during short breaks, to write. This method allows him to simultaneously pursue multiple projects, including writing complex novels, academic essays, and newspaper columns, alongside his teaching and conference commitments. His ability to transform seemingly unproductive "empty spaces" into opportunities for creative and intellectual work is a defining characteristic highlighted in the chapter.

• Eco explicitly mentions, "I work in the interstices. Even my empty spaces are full of work."
• He illustrates this by giving examples of writing a novel while waiting for someone or during brief intervals.

Statement II: Umberto Eco does not like to be interviewed. …

The passage paints a vivid picture of Umberto Eco's relationship with time, and the key lies in understanding what "waste" means in this context. When we say someone wastes time, we mean they let it pass without purpose, squandering moments that could have been productive. Eco, as the extract makes clear, does precisely the opposite.

The sentence tells us he writes an article while proceeding to the elevator — a journey that takes mere seconds. Most people would consider that transit dead time, a gap between tasks. Eco transforms it into working time. He doesn't let a single moment slip by unused. The word that captures this active, purposeful employment of time is utilize.

To utilize means to make practical and effective use of something. Where waste implies carelessness and loss, utilize implies intention and gain. Eco doesn't fritter away his elevator journey; he harnesses it, squeezes productivity from it, turns it into an opportunity. The contrast is stark: one person wastes the walk to the elevator staring at their phone, another utilizes it to draft a paragraph. …

The question comes from the NCERT Class 12 English textbook, from the chapter titled "The Interview." In this chapter, the author presents a series of reflections on the nature of interviews as a genre, and then includes a specific interview with the celebrated Italian novelist and scholar Umberto Eco. The key here is to understand the source of the information about Eco's working style.

The chapter does not present Eco's views through a collection of his blog posts, nor does it offer them as a hypothesis or a set of dry facts. Instead, the entire section on Umberto Eco is structured as a direct interview. The author, Mukund Padmanabhan, meets Eco and asks him questions about his prolific output, his unique approach to writing, and his famous novel The Name of the Rose. Eco's responses—about his "interstitial" method of writing in spare moments, his use of empty spaces, and his view of himself as an academic who writes novels on Sundays—are all given in the course of this conversation.