THE INTERVIEW by Christopher Sylvester

Understanding the text PART-I

 Interview has become a commonplace of journalism. Opinions on the functions, methods and merits of
Interview vary considerably.
 Some claim it to be the highest form, a source of truth and in its practice an art.
 Some despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into lives, which diminishes their personality.
 V.S. Naipaul feels that ‘some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves’.
 Lewis Carroll never consented to be interviewed for he believed it to be ‘a just horror of the interviewer’.
 Rudyard Kipling considered it ‘immoral, a crime, an assault that merits punishment’.
 H.G. Wells referred interviewing to be an ‘ordeal’.
 Saul Bellow describes it ‘like thumbprints on his windpipe’.
 Despite the drawbacks interview is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. Interviews are
the most vivid impression of our contemporaries and the interviewer holds a position of unprecedented
power and influence.

PART II
 An extract from an interview of Umberto Eco interviewed by Mukund Padmanabhan.
 Umberto Eco was a professor with a formidable reputation as a scholar for his ideas on Semiotics, literary
interpretation and medieval aesthetics before he turned into writing literary fiction. He attained
intellectual superstardom with his publication “The Name of the Rose”.
 In the interview Eco shares his idea of empty spaces in our lives just as they exist in an atom, which he
calls Interstices. He says that he makes use of these empty spaces to work.
 Eco’s essays were scholarly and narrative. He likes to be identified more as a university professor who
writes novels.
 Eco’s ‘The Name of the Rose”, a serious novel, which delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval
history, enjoyed a mass audience. It dealt with medieval past. He feels that the novel wouldn’t have been
so well received had it been written ten years earlier or later.

NCERT QUESTIONS (Think as you read)

Q1. List some of the positive views on interviews.
Ans. Interviews have many positive aspects. It is an art and a source of truth. It is a serviceable medium of
communication. We can get information about our contemporaries through interview.
Q2. Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
 it is an unwarranted intrusion into their lives.
• feel that the interview diminishes them.
Q3. What is the belief in some of the primitive culture about being photographed?
 Some primitive cultures believe that it is like stealing someone’s soul
Q4. What do you understand by the expression’ thumbprints on his windpipe’?
Ans. Saul Bellow has described interview as being ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’. If somebody presses
our throat, our windpipe is choked and we cannot breathe properly. Similarly, he felt choked and
suffocated during the interviews

NCERT QUESTIONS (understanding the text)

Q1.Do you think that Umberto Eco likes being interviewed ?Give reason s for your opinion
After analyzing the interview extract we see that Umberto Eco does not get perturbed while being
interviewed .He is comfortable ,confident and at ease when he is being interviewed. He readily furnishes
answers to the questions asked. Moreover he elaborates on everything, volunteering more information
than is required.
He candidly discusses his philosophical and academic interests, his fictional and non-fictional styles of
writing and why he considers himself a University Professor He also shares with the interviewer his
secret of time management and how he utilizes the empty spaces in his life which he called interstices
and how he managed to write such staggeringly large amount of literature. He honestly discusses the
trials and errors he faced during his first Doctoral dissertation. He gives details about his novel “The
Name of The Rose” in a systematic and methodical way .He was candid enough to admit that it was a
mystery why the novel was successful. His tone is friendly and at no point does he seem to wind up the
interview.

Keeping all these factors in mind we can conclude that Umberto Eco does not consider interviewing a
crime or an offence rather it is a way of getting a clearer picture of the celebrity.

Q2. What was distinctive about Eco ‘s academic writing style ?

Ans. Umberto Eco is a professor at Bologna University who has a staggeringly large and wide ranging
amount of written output to his credit. Eco has philosophical interests which he pursues through his
academic works and novels. Even the books he writes for children are about non-violence and peace,
here again his philosophical and ethical interests surface. His scholarly and non-fictional writing have a
certain playful and personal quality to it .It is a marked deviation from his regular academic style which is
depersonalized and often dry and boring. He believed that scholarly books should always be written by
telling the story of the research which is why his essays always had a narrative style
Q3. Did Umberto Eco consider himself as a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Eco considers himself as an academic scholar first as he prefers identifying himself with the academic
community .He participates in academic conferences but not in the meetings of pen Clubs and writers.
Before he turned to writing fiction he had a formidable reputation as a scholar for his ideas on semiotics
(study of signs), literary interpretations and medieval history. Though he is happy at the overwhelming
response and the tremendous success he got for his novel “The Name of the Rose “he still prefers to be a
Professor at Bologna University who writes novels on Sundays .He started writing Novels by accident.
One day when he had nothing to do he started writing one, it was probably to satisfy his taste for
narration
Q4. What is the reason for the huge success of the novel “The Name of the rose”?
Value points:
 it is a detective yarn
 delves into metaphysics, theology, medieval history.
 written at the right time.
 reason of success is mystery

EXTRA QUESTIONS (SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS)

Q.1.In what way have the interviews become a common place of journalism?
Ans: Over the last 130 years, the interviews have become a commonplace of journalism. Almost
everybody will have read an interview at some point during their life time. Several thousand celebrities
have been interviewed over the years. It is a great serviceable medium of communication. The
interviewer holds position of unprecedented power and influence
Q2. How does Rudyard Kipling condemn an Interview?
Ans .According to Rudyard Kipling interview is immoral. It is a crime. It is just like an attack on
somebody. Hence, it is punishable. He adds that it is a cowardly and unpleasant act. No respectable man
should ask anybody to give interview.
Q3 What was odd about Rudyard Kipling interviewing Mark Twain?
 considers as crime , immoral
 still interviewed Mark Twain
Q4. Why was Umberto Eco’s writer friend Roland Bathers frustrated ?
----was always frustrated that he was an essayist and not a novelist. He wanted to do creative writing one
day or another but he died before he could do so.
Q.5. What is the secret of Umberto Eco’s working style?
Ans: Eco says there are empty spaces in the lives of us all. He calls these empty spaces as ‘interstices or
intervals. He explains his style of working in empty spaces through an example. He tells when he waits for
somebody coming from the elevator from first to the third floor, he won’t sit idle. He utilises these
intervals for his creative work.
Q6. What do you think were the distinguishing features of his novel ‘The Name of the Rose’?
Ans. It is a serious novel .Though it has a detective yarn on one level ,it also
delves deep into metaphysics ,theology and medieval history .
Q. 7 Why, according to Umberto Eco, were the journalists puzzled at the popularity of the novel
‘The Name of the Rose’?
Ans .According to Umberto Eco the journalists were puzzled because journalists believed that people
liked the writings of poor quality. They thought that difficult reading experiences were not liked by
people. But they were wrong. The novel was liked by millions of people even if it had difficult
experiences.
Q 8.What did Lewis Carroll have a horror of ?
Ans. Lewis Carroll. the creator of Alice in Wonderland had a 'horror of the interviewer' and he
never consented to be interviewed. It was his horror of being lionized which made him repel,
would be acquaintances, interviewers and the persistent petitioners for his autograph.
Q 9.What was Kipling's attitude towards interviews?
Ans. Rudyard Kipling had a condemnatory attitude towards the interviewer. His wife Caroline
expresses that her husband had said to the reporters. "Why do I refuse to be interviewed?
Because it is immoral! It is a crime. Just as much of a crime as an offence against my person, as
an assault. and just as much merits punishment. It is cowardly and vile . No respectable man
would ask it. much less give it,"
Q10.What is the same thing that Umber-to Eco says he is always doing?
Ans. Umberto Eco says he has some philosophical interests and he pursues them through his
academic work and his novels. Even his books for children are about non-violence and peace,
which in other words is about ethical and philosophical interests.
Q11. What was Umberto's secret?
Ans’ Umberto's secret was the concept of empty spaces. According to him if one eliminates all
the the empty spaces from the universe, eliminates the empty spaces in all the atoms then the
universe will become as big as fist. Similarly, the empty spaces in life of people he calls
'interstices', which he fills by working.
Q12. ‘I identify myself with the academic community," Briefly explain.
Ans: Umberto considered himself as a university professor who wrote novels on Sundays. He
participated in academic conferences and not meetings of Pen Clubs and Writers. Hence he
identified himself with the academic community.
Q 13. What is 'Name of the Rose’ about?
Ans. 'Name of the Rose' is a very serious novel. It's a detective yarn at one level but it also delves
into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. It enjoyed a huge mass audience and sold
between 10 and 15 million copies.
Q 14.Why were journalists and publishers puzzled at the overwhelming
success of the novel? What was Umberto's explanation '?
Ans. The journalists and publishers were puzzled at the overwhelming success of the novel
because they believed that people liked trash and didn't like difficult reading experiences.
Umberto explains that if there are about six billion people in this planet. 'The Name of the Rose'
sold between 10 and 15 million copies. Umberto reached only a small percentage of the
readers. But it was exactly these kinds of readers who didn't want easy reading experiences,
or at least didn't always want it. So, the novel was claimed to be a success,