Sai Prasanna P. Dr. S Annapoorni 11EL/PC/RM34 29 Oct 2014 Investigating the Elements of the Detective Novel in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose In recent years, the universally popular detective genre, which was invented in 1841 by Edgar Allan Poe, has been the site of various critical inquiries and theoretical presumptions. A mystery or detective novel, according to Dennis Porter, “prefigures at the outset the form of its denouement by virtue of the highly visible question mark hanging over its opening” (Quoted in Scaggs 34). Answering this question requires, in Portor’s view, requires “a reading approach that parallels the investigative process as a process of making connections” (34) This “question mark”, according to John Scaggs, “encourages the reader to imitate the detective, and to retrace the causative steps from effects back to causes, and in doing so to attempt to answer the question at the heart of all stories of mystery and detection: who did it?” (35) The term ‘whodunnit’ was hence coined in the 1930s to describe a type of fiction in which the puzzle or mystery element was the central focus. Though Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose (Trans. William Weaver, 1980) stands as a pinnacle of historical fiction and metafiction with its multilayered historical and literary allusions, and has also contributed to semiotic readings, the text can also be analyzed as an intentionally and intellectually designed detective novel. Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose has been perceived as essentially being a detective story. Edgar Allan Poe called detective fiction as “tales of ratiocination” (Quoted in Freeman). The focus of the narrative is directed upon the process of unraveling the mystery resulting in its denouement and the methods employed by the detective in the course of its development as William endeavors to unravel the mystery which lies at the heart of the murders by searching for a ‘pattern’ which seemingly ties all the murders together. Therefore, Williams’ function in the novel is not limited to that of a historian or semiotician, but also primarily extends to that of a detective. Various elements in The Name of the Rose, such as, the author’s deliberate construction of the plot which posits a mystery, its every action directed to the solving of the crime, the establishment of subtle connections between the murders in the form of clues, and the character of the protagonist who functions as a detective, contribute to its function as a detective novel. The central element of any detective story is the mystery or puzzle and its resolution provided by the detective who is the central figure of the detective story. According to Stefano Tani, a conventional detective story is a story in which an amateur or professional detective attempts to solve the mystery by employing rational means. This suggests the presence of three invariable elements: the detective, the process of detection, and the solution. The Name of the Rose contains all three elements: William of Baskerville who functions as the detective trying to solve the murders of the monks; his process of detection which is undoubtedly based on logic and reason; and the discovery of the identity of the criminal which remains hidden till the final chapters of the novel. Austin Freeman enumerates four stages in the construction of the plot of a detective novel: statement of the problem; presentation of clues; investigation of the detective; and disclosing of evidence. The Name of the Rose complies with all the requirements of the plot of a detective story. There are several clues which are presented to the readers as William and Adso come across them at every step of the investigation. E.g. the blackened fingers of Venantius and Berengar which allow William and Adso to deduce that their deaths were caused by them having touched a poisonous substance, and the Greek manuscript found on Venantius’ desk in the scriptorium which reveals to William and Adso the location of the finis Africae. The process of investigation is described in detail in The Name of the Rose as William discovers the identity of the lost Aristotle text, cracks the code of the secret message left behind by Venantius, and figures out t