The Three Astronauts
by Umberto Eco
art by Eugenio Carmi
translated by William Weaver
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
1989
Did you know that Umberto Eco write a children's book? Yes, the author of Foucault's Pendulum and The Name of the Rose and the famous essay describing the features of fascism, that Umberto Eco wrote a children's picture book near the end of the Cold War called The Three Astronauts, about representatives from America, Russia, and China traveling to Mars.
The three countries each want to be the first to put a person on Mars. Their three separate rockets launch around the same time, and land on Mars almost simultaneously. The astronauts discover a planet covered with canals, blue plants, and vibrant alien birds, perhaps inspired by Tweel from Stanley Weinbaum's classic story "A Martian Odyssey." Eco's depiction of the space programs is scifi of course, because we couldn't and didn't go to Mars in 1989, but it's fairly realistic. His depiction of Mars itself is more fanciful, the sort of thing that was common a half-century before, that fell out of favor as scifi authors sought to incorporate discoveries made by real-world space programs.
Eco's three astronauts, each speaking their own language, initially don't understand each other, and don't trust each other. Then night falls. The astronauts feel lonely, homesick, perhaps a bit frightened in this strange place. The American calls out "Mommy!" The Russian calls out "Mamouchka!" The Chinese astronaut calls out "Mama!" And even though they're still speaking different languages, they each recognize that the others are feeling the same way. (Thank you, proto-Indo-European language group, for retaining that bit of commonality!)
Next the astronauts see a Martian. It has green skin, six arms, a trunk and other strange features. At first the astronauts are all afraid. They think the Martian is a monster and want to destroy it. Then a baby bird falls from a tree and looks hurt. Each of the astronauts feels sad and sheds a tear. The Martian exhales blue smoke and goes to pick up the baby bird. The astronauts recognize the smoke as akin to a tear, and they see that the Martian cares about the bird. On the basis of this beginning of mutual understanding, they're able to become friends.
The art in The Three Astronauts is a mix of collage and watercolor. Eugenio Carmi depicts the Earth using a map of the globe, but Mars is a blue-grey watercolor circle. Each astronaut is depicted as a scrap of paper. The Chinese astronaut is a large character, and looks to me like a logo. The Russian is a scrap of a newsletter printed on red paper. The American is a Chiclets wrapper, which amuses me. The alien bird is an engraving, watercolored in pinks and purples. The Martian is assembled from several engravings. I suspect the six-armed torso came from an illustration of the sort of people Greek philosophers imagined living in other parts of the world, which is a nice touch if so.
I wish peace really were as simple as Eco makes it seem here, although I think his point that we need to recognize each other as sharing common emotions and experiences is sound. And I think it helps that, by caring for the injured bird, each is able to demonstrate their benign intent. While misunderstandings can happen, even among people who speak the same language, if you're approaching each other in a spirit of equality and cooperation, you're already halfway there. So much conflict comes from one person, or one group, trying to dominate another. The conflict is inherent in the approach; no amount of understanding will make it go away. What's required is for the aggressor to renounce their attempts at domination, and to seek peace through equality instead.
The three countries each want to be the first to put a person on Mars. Their three separate rockets launch around the same time, and land on Mars almost simultaneously. The astronauts discover a planet covered with canals, blue plants, and vibrant alien birds, perhaps inspired by Tweel from Stanley Weinbaum's classic story "A Martian Odyssey." Eco's depiction of the space programs is scifi of course, because we couldn't and didn't go to Mars in 1989, but it's fairly realistic. His depiction of Mars itself is more fanciful, the sort of thing that was common a half-century before, that fell out of favor as scifi authors sought to incorporate discoveries made by real-world space programs.
Eco's three astronauts, each speaking their own language, initially don't understand each other, and don't trust each other. Then night falls. The astronauts feel lonely, homesick, perhaps a bit frightened in this strange place. The American calls out "Mommy!" The Russian calls out "Mamouchka!" The Chinese astronaut calls out "Mama!" And even though they're still speaking different languages, they each recognize that the others are feeling the same way. (Thank you, proto-Indo-European language group, for retaining that bit of commonality!)
Next the astronauts see a Martian. It has green skin, six arms, a trunk and other strange features. At first the astronauts are all afraid. They think the Martian is a monster and want to destroy it. Then a baby bird falls from a tree and looks hurt. Each of the astronauts feels sad and sheds a tear. The Martian exhales blue smoke and goes to pick up the baby bird. The astronauts recognize the smoke as akin to a tear, and they see that the Martian cares about the bird. On the basis of this beginning of mutual understanding, they're able to become friends.
The art in The Three Astronauts is a mix of collage and watercolor. Eugenio Carmi depicts the Earth using a map of the globe, but Mars is a blue-grey watercolor circle. Each astronaut is depicted as a scrap of paper. The Chinese astronaut is a large character, and looks to me like a logo. The Russian is a scrap of a newsletter printed on red paper. The American is a Chiclets wrapper, which amuses me. The alien bird is an engraving, watercolored in pinks and purples. The Martian is assembled from several engravings. I suspect the six-armed torso came from an illustration of the sort of people Greek philosophers imagined living in other parts of the world, which is a nice touch if so.
I wish peace really were as simple as Eco makes it seem here, although I think his point that we need to recognize each other as sharing common emotions and experiences is sound. And I think it helps that, by caring for the injured bird, each is able to demonstrate their benign intent. While misunderstandings can happen, even among people who speak the same language, if you're approaching each other in a spirit of equality and cooperation, you're already halfway there. So much conflict comes from one person, or one group, trying to dominate another. The conflict is inherent in the approach; no amount of understanding will make it go away. What's required is for the aggressor to renounce their attempts at domination, and to seek peace through equality instead.
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