Class | Subject | Book | Chapter | Session | Questions covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XII | English | Flamingo (NCERT) | 7 – The Interview | 2026-27 | 15 of 15 |
Chapter at a glance
Aspect | Key point |
|---|---|
Part I author | Christopher Silvester — introduction to the Penguin Book of Interviews (1859 to the present) |
Views on interviews | Positive: a source of truth, an art, a supremely serviceable medium; the interviewer holds unprecedented power (Denis Brian). Negative: an intrusion; V.S. Naipaul — people are wounded and lose a part of themselves; Lewis Carroll — “a just horror of the interviewer”; Rudyard Kipling — “immoral… a crime”; Saul Bellow — “thumbprints on his windpipe” |
Part II | Extract of Mukund Padmanabhan’s (The Hindu) interview with Umberto Eco, professor at the University of Bologna, scholar of semiotics, author of The Name of the Rose (1980, 10–15 million copies) |
Eco’s ideas | Works in “interstices” (empty spaces); scholarly writing as the “story of the research”; “a university professor who writes novels on Sundays”; success of the novel is a mystery |
Think as you read
Question C1
What are some of the positive views on interviews?
Answer
- Some make extravagant claims that the interview, in its highest form, is a source of truth and, in its practice, an art.
- Despite its drawbacks, it is a supremely serviceable medium of communication.
- Denis Brian wrote that “These days, more than at any other time, our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are through interviews”; almost everything of moment reaches us through one man asking questions of another — so the interviewer holds a position of unprecedented power and influence.
Some see the interview as a source of truth and an art; it is a supremely serviceable medium of communication, giving us our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries, which gives the interviewer unprecedented power and influence (Denis Brian).
Question C2
Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Answer
Celebrities often see themselves as victims of the interview. They despise it as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives, or feel that it somehow diminishes them — like the primitive belief that a photograph steals one’s soul. V.S. Naipaul felt that some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves; Lewis Carroll had “a just horror of the interviewer”; Kipling called it immoral, a crime, cowardly and vile; Saul Bellow compared interviews to “thumbprints on his windpipe”.
They see interviews as an unwarranted intrusion into their private lives that diminishes them or makes them lose a part of themselves (Naipaul), or even as an immoral assault (Kipling) — like “thumbprints on [the] windpipe” (Bellow).
Question C3
What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Answer
In some primitive cultures it is believed that if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody, then one is stealing that person’s soul.
That taking a person’s photograph steals his or her soul.
Question C4
What do you understand by the expression “thumbprints on his windpipe”?
Answer
Saul Bellow compared interviews to “thumbprints on his windpipe” — the windpipe is the throat; thumbprints on it suggest being throttled or strangled. He meant that interviews are suffocating, oppressive and painful, like someone pressing his throat; they choke one’s freedom and leave lasting marks.
It means that interviews felt suffocating and painful to Saul Bellow, like someone pressing on his throat to strangle him — an oppressive experience that leaves its mark.
Question C5
Who, in today’s world, is our chief source of information about personalities?
Answer
The interviewer (and the interview) is our chief source of information about personalities. As Denis Brian says, almost everything of moment reaches us through one man asking questions of another; our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries come through interviews.
The interviewer — through interviews — is our chief source of information about personalities today.
Understanding the text
Question U1
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer
Yes, Eco seems to enjoy being interviewed: 1. He answers questions openly, frankly and at length, sharing personal details — his “secret” of working in interstices, his doctoral dissertation, his friend Roland Barthes. 2. He is relaxed and humorous — he laughs, shrugs and tells stories “like a Chinese wise man”. 3. He does not avoid any question, even about how he wants to be identified, and explains his views patiently. 4. He shows no sign of the irritation or hostility that celebrities like Kipling or Bellow felt.
Yes. He answers frankly and at length, shares personal anecdotes and his “secret” of interstices, laughs and tells stories in a relaxed, friendly manner, and shows none of the hostility of writers like Kipling or Bellow.
Question U2
How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Answer
Eco says he has a “secret”: just as the universe would shrink to the size of a fist if all empty spaces were removed from atoms, we have many empty spaces in our lives, which he calls “interstices”. He works in these empty spaces — e.g. while waiting for the interviewer’s elevator to come up from the first to the third floor, he has already written an article. By using these small gaps of time productively, he writes a great deal.
He uses the “interstices” — the empty spaces of time in daily life, like waiting for an elevator — to write; by working in these gaps he produces a vast amount.
Question U3
What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Answer
Eco’s academic writing has a playful, personal and informal quality, unlike the usual depersonalised, dry and boring academic style. He tells the story of his research, including his trials and errors, so his essays have a narrative aspect. A professor reviewing his first doctoral dissertation (at 22) noticed this and appreciated it, publishing it as a book.
It was playful, personal and narrative — telling the story of his research, including trials and errors — instead of the usual dry, depersonalised academic style.
Question U4
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Answer
Eco considered himself an academic scholar first: “I consider myself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays.” He participated in academic conferences, not meetings of Pen Clubs and writers, and identified himself with the academic community. It bothered him that most people knew him only as a novelist.
An academic scholar first — he called himself “a university professor who writes novels on Sundays” and identified with the academic community.
Question U5
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
Answer
Eco says the success of the book is a mystery — nobody can predict it. It is a serious novel — a detective yarn that also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history — yet it sold 10–15 million copies. He believes there are readers who do not want only easy experiences; journalists and publishers wrongly think people like trash. He accepts that its setting in medieval history may have helped, but says that if he had written it ten years earlier or later, it might not have been the same — the timing perhaps mattered.
Eco calls it a mystery: the serious detective novel on metaphysics, theology and medieval history found readers who want challenging rather than easy books; its medieval setting and the timing of its publication may have helped, but its success could not be predicted.
Talking about the text
Question T1
Talk about any interview that you have watched on television or read in a newspaper. How did it add to your understanding of the celebrity, the interviewer and the field of the celebrity?
Answer
(Sample.) I watched a television interview of Neeraj Chopra after he won the Olympic gold medal in javelin throw (Tokyo 2020).
- Celebrity: he came across as humble, disciplined and focused; he spoke about his family’s support, injuries, and the years of hard training and sacrifices.
- Interviewer: asked thoughtful questions about his journey from a small village in Haryana, his diet and training, and his hopes for Indian athletics, letting him speak freely without intrusive personal questions.
- Field: I learnt about javelin technique, the role of foreign coaches, sports science, and the need for better facilities for athletes in India.
The interview made me admire his dedication and understand that success in sport requires years of unseen effort.
Sample: a television interview with Neeraj Chopra after his Olympic gold revealed his humility and discipline, showed the interviewer’s thoughtful, respectful questioning, and taught me about javelin technique, training and the facilities athletes need.
Question T2
The medium you like best for an interview, print, radio, or television.
Answer
(Sample opinion.) I like television interviews best: 1. We can see the expressions, body language and emotions of the person, which make the interview more real and engaging. 2. It is lively and immediate; live interviews show spontaneous responses. 3. Visuals (clips, photographs) add context.
However, print interviews allow in-depth, carefully edited answers that can be read at leisure (like Eco’s interview), and radio interviews focus attention on words and voice, are accessible anywhere and are intimate. Each medium has its strengths.
Sample: television is best because it shows expressions, body language and spontaneous reactions with supporting visuals; but print allows detailed, considered answers and radio offers intimate, accessible conversation.
Question T3
Every famous person has a right to his or her privacy. Interviewers sometimes embarrass celebrities with very personal questions.
Answer
Famous people are public figures, and the public is interested in their lives, but they too have a right to privacy. Interviewers should focus on their work, achievements and views on public issues. Asking intrusive questions about personal relationships, health, family or finances without consent can embarrass and hurt them and violate their dignity — as Naipaul said, people can be wounded by interviews. Paparazzi culture and sensational journalism have sometimes caused great distress (e.g. the death of Princess Diana while being chased by photographers). Ethical journalism requires respect, consent and sensitivity; celebrities should have the right to decline personal questions.
Celebrities have a right to privacy; interviewers should focus on their work and public views, not intrusive personal questions that embarrass or hurt them. Ethical journalism needs respect, consent and sensitivity, and celebrities should be free to decline personal questions.
Writing
Question Wr1
If the interviewer Mukund Padmanabhan had not got the space in the newspaper to reproduce the interview verbatim, he may have been asked to produce a short report of the interview with the salient points. Write this report for him.
Answer
“I am a professor who writes novels on Sundays”: Umberto Eco
By Mukund Padmanabhan
Umberto Eco, professor at the University of Bologna and author of the best-selling novel The Name of the Rose, spoke about his enormous and varied output in a recent interview.
Responding to the novelist David Lodge’s remark that he could not understand how one man could do so much, Eco said that he was always “doing the same thing” — pursuing his philosophical and ethical interests through academic work, novels and even children’s books on non-violence and peace. His secret, he said, is to work in the “interstices”, the empty spaces in our lives, such as the time spent waiting for a lift.
Eco explained that his scholarly writing has a playful, narrative quality because, from his first doctoral dissertation at 22, he told “the story of the research”, including trials and errors. He began writing novels by accident, at about 50, to satisfy his taste for narration.
Though he has written over 40 scholarly books and five novels, most people know him as a novelist, which bothers him; he identifies with the academic community and calls himself “a university professor who writes novels on Sundays”.
On the huge success of The Name of the Rose — a serious detective novel on metaphysics, theology and medieval history that sold 10–15 million copies — Eco said that many readers do not want only easy experiences, contrary to what journalists and publishers believe. He admitted that its medieval setting and timing might have helped, but called its success “a mystery”.
A short report with headline and byline summarising the interview: Eco’s unified philosophical interests, his habit of working in “interstices”, his narrative academic style, his late and accidental start as a novelist, his self-image as “a university professor who writes novels on Sundays”, and his view that the success of The Name of the Rose is a mystery.
Things to do
Question D1
Interview a person whom you admire either in school or your neighbourhood and record it in writing.
Answer
(Sample interview with the school librarian.)
Interview with Mrs Meera Joshi, School Librarian (25 years of service)
Q: Ma’am, how did you become a librarian? A: I loved books as a child. After my graduation, I did a course in library science and joined this school in 2000. Books have been my companions ever since.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your work? A: Seeing a child who never read before suddenly ask for the next book in a series. That moment is priceless.
Q: Do you think children read less today because of mobile phones? A: They read differently. Many read e-books and articles online. My job is to help them choose good books and enjoy reading for its own sake.
Q: Which book would you recommend to every student? A: Wings of Fire by Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam — it teaches that dreams and hard work can take you anywhere.
Q: What advice would you give students? A: Read every day, even if it is just ten pages. And be curious — ask questions.
Q: Thank you, Ma’am. A: Thank you. Keep reading!
A recorded interview in question–answer form with an admired person (e.g. the school librarian), covering their journey, what they enjoy, their views on current issues, recommendations and advice, with a brief introduction and a thank-you.
Topic checklist
- ☒ Views on interviews (C1–C5)
- ☒ Umberto Eco — working style, identity, The Name of the Rose (U1–U5)
- ☒ Interviews, media and privacy (T1–T3)
- ☒ Interview report and recording an interview (Wr1, D1)