Stefano Traini, in Le due vie della semiotica, revisits and comments on Umberto Eco’s thought, particularly in relation to Lector in Fabula. Traini emphasizes that the notion of inference already plays a central role in several areas of semiotic theory: choosing a topic, for instance, involves an inference — a risky choice that may turn out to be wrong (abduction).
According to Traini, interpretive activity is closely tied to inferential activity. When interpreting a text, the addressee constantly formulates predictions about what may happen next. Traini explains that even in a simple conversation between two speakers, utterances are rarely complete: people often interrupt themselves precisely because this predictive activity allows them to complete the other’s sentence through quick inferences. At times, however, these inferences prove incorrect, making it necessary to restate a misunderstood idea.
Traini goes on to highlight how this predictive activity becomes even more evident in the interpretation of written texts. Whenever something occurs in the text that alters the narrative world, the reader is naturally led to form expectations about the state of affairs that might follow. Texts actively rely on this mechanism by using so-called suspense signals. As the reading continues, the reader checks whether their predictions are confirmed or contradicted.
In this regard, Traini cites Eco: in order to anticipate a certain course of events, the reader takes inferential walks — metaphorically stepping outside the text to retrieve what Eco calls common and/or intertextual scripts — and formulates reasoning such as: the situation is x, and according to my experience and the texts I know, when the situation is x, then y happens; therefore, I can predict that y will happen. The reader then returns to the text and continues reading, ready to verify whether the prediction turns out to be right or wrong.
Bibliographic reference: Stefano Traini, Le due vie della semiotica: Teorie strutturali e interpretative (Strumenti Bompiani).