In a way he anticipated the digital age. Or at least initiated in Italy a line of research - the study of mass culture and its products, from comics to movies and pop music - which at the time many of our intellectuals have carefully avoided, with a hint of late-modern snobbery. We are talking of "Apocalypse Postponed", the essay by Umberto Eco published in 1964 that quickly became a cult in academic circles and beyond, creating a highly successful formula.

The fiftieth anniversary of the publication last year, has stirred up some reflections among experts on the relevance of the theories presented in the book and their applicability to the new media context. This resulted in a lively debate that was reconstructed in the diversity of its voices by the publisher Derive Approdi in the book that has been just published "50 anni dopo Apocalittici e integrati" (Apocalypse Postponed 50 years after), edited by Anna Maria Lorusso.

Among the contributions included in the book - which collected essays signed by some of the leading experts in Italian media, semiotics and communication, such as Gianfranco Marrone, Alberto Abruzzese, Marco Belpoliti, Fausto Colombo – there is also an exclusive interview that Umberto Eco gave to ICS magazine last year. With his poignancy and irony Eco reflects on the more or less "apocalyptic" nature of the digital culture and its impact on collective memory.