On a fragment of BASIC code in Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco

The paper discusses a short program in BASIC and its textual output, both contained in Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco, with the aim of highlighting the semiotic complexity of programming languages. First, the specific enunciative regime installed by the novel is discussed, including the narrative and the code layers. Starting from enunciation issues, the problem of the status of the code as a replica or pseudo–replica is introduced, according to Eco’s theory of modes of sign production. To this end, the BASIC language is shortly presented, and the program is analyzed in relation to the many BASIC dialects. Then, the relation between expression and content is taken into account, starting from a translation perspective that compares the actual program with other implementations, both in BASIC and in other languages. Finally, the program is discussed as a result of a writing practice that governs its functioning and in relation to the distinction between alphabetic and hieroglyphic dimensions