Meanwhile : The name of the rose and comedy

Home > Opinion > Meanwhile

Meanwhile : The name of the rose and comedy

Published: 22 Apr. 2026, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kim Myung-hwa

The author is a playwright and director.

A comedian who publicly supported the president was recently appointed head of the National Jeongdong Theater. He is said to have been active in the performing arts, but even I, who have also spent considerable time in that field, know little about him. Such reward-style appointments have always existed, but this one is so unconventional that it feels like watching a piece of black comedy.

Cast members perform a scene during a press call for the traditional folk theater production “Gwangdae” at the National Jeongdong Theater in Jung District, Seoul, on April 3. [YONHAP]

In thinking about comedy, one recalls “The Name of the Rose” (1980) by Umberto Eco. The novel is set in a medieval monastery where a series of murders takes place. After investigation, a book coated with poison is discovered, but it is ultimately destroyed in a fire. The book is imagined to be the missing comedy section of “Poetics” (335 B.C.) by Aristotle.

“Poetics,” a foundational work of literary theory, survives largely as a set of lecture notes and is mainly concerned with tragedy. As for comedy, Aristotle offers only a brief definition and mentions that he will discuss it later. Because that later discussion is missing from the existing text, it remains unclear whether a full treatment of comedy ever existed.

Most readers might pass over that brief remark, but Eco did not. He took that single line as a starting point, imagining that a lost section on comedy once existed and constructing a story about how it might have disappeared.

If tragedy is a genre that confronts the truths of life with solemnity, comedy has the power to twist and subvert accepted truths through laughter. In the medieval world, where the absolute authority of God was emphasized, such laughter could pose a threat. If comedy, which could undermine authority by turning it into an object of laughter, were to spread among the people, it would have been seen as dangerous. In Eco’s narrative, the book is coated with poison to kill those who read it and is eventually burned, leaving only the current version of “Poetics.”

The title “The Name of the Rose” also recalls a line from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” (1597). Juliet says that a rose would retain its fragrance even if its name were changed, expressing trust in the essence of things. By contrast, Eco concludes that the rose of the past remains only as an empty name. This invites a question: are the principles we believe in today likewise reduced to names without substance?

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.