Umberto Eco, kristendomen och öppenhetens estetik

Abstract

This paper provides a presentation of the semiotics of Umberto Eco as well as a preliminary outline of an interpretation of the Christian religion based on Eco’s semiotic theories. The suggested application of Eco’s semiotics to the interpretation of Christianity is based on the notion of «unlimited semiosis», originally derived from the pragmatic semiotics of C. S. Peirce. Against this theoretical background, I suggest a non-confessional consideration of Christianity as a hypertext, open for a potentially unlimited multitude of connections between different Christian cultures in time and space. It is argued that this use of Eco’s semiotics is a theologically adequate instrument for exploring the multitude of Christian cultures and traditions in past and present.