The postmodern reply to the modern consists of recognizing that the past, since it cannot really be destroyed, because its destruction leads to silence, must be revisited: but with irony, not innocently. I think of the postmodern attitude as that of a man who loves a very cultivated woman and knows he cannot say to her, I love you madly, because he knows that she knows (and that she knows that he knows) that these words have already been written by Barbara Cartland. Still, there is a solution. He can say, As Barbara Cartland would put it, I love you madly.

Summary

This quote by Umberto Eco aims to explain the postmodern attitude towards revisiting the past. It suggests that the past cannot be completely destroyed and forgotten; rather, it must be acknowledged and examined with irony. Eco uses a metaphor of a man in love with a sophisticated woman to illustrate this point. The man wants to express his affection, but realizes that expressing it directly would lack originality. Instead, he cleverly references a well-known romance novelist, Barbara Cartland, to express his love indirectly and with a touch of irony. This highlights the postmodern approach of embracing and reinterpreting the past in a self-conscious manner.

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