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| Titre : | The Aims of Interpretation |
| Auteurs : | E. D. Hirsch (Jr.), Auteur |
| Type de document : | texte imprimé |
| Editeur : | Chicago [USA] : University of Chicago Press, 1976 |
| ISBN/ISSN/EAN : | 978-0-226-34238-2 |
| Format : | vi + 177 p. |
| Langues: | Anglais |
| Index. décimale : | CE/A (Approche générale de l'étude de la Bible) |
| Résumé : |
In this major work, one of today's most influential literary theorists, E. D. Hirsch, Jr., extends his widely acclaimed previous work in the theory of interpretation (hermeneutics), and breaks new ground in the theory of evaluation. The unifying theme of the book is Hirsch's convincing defense of the possibility of genuine knowledge in textual interpretation. In conducting this defense, the author presents a formidable challenge to currently fashionable hermeneutic theories which are dominated by relativism and skepticism.
The author's primary purpose is to defend and establish confidence in the possibility of interpretation as a genuine cognitive process. In so doing, he cogently exposes the logical and empirical flaws of the main versions of contemporary relativism: psychological, historical, and linguistic. His critique explains why textual interpretation is not inherently determined by one's world view or by one's perspective. Hirsch goes on to argue against the most widely held relativistic principle of all—the idea that the form of thought is relative to the form of language—by demonstrating that absolute synonymy is a widespread feature of language. In the second part of the book, "The Valuative Dimension," the author traces the limitations of aesthetic evaluation and questions the existence of privileged criteria in literary evaluation. 1’he assumption which arose in the nineteenth century that the aesthetically excellent and the humanly beneficial are automatically united is also disputed. According to Hirsch, if the older separation between the pleasing and the useful were revived, a good many intellectual embarrassments would disappear and literary study would be broadened and freed from the hegemony of aesthetics. The author concludes with a discussion of the relations between value anil knowledge in the humanities and shows that “the process of understanding is itself a process of validation." The Aims of Interpretation will not only stimulate debate among literary critics, but will challenge many current assumptions of linguists, semioticists, and psychologists as well. |
| Note de contenu : |
- Acknowledgments - 1. Introduction: Meaning and Significance PART ONE - Current Issues in Theory of Interpretation - 2. Old and New in Hermeneutics - 3. Faulty Perspectives - 4. Stylistics and Synonymity - 5. Three Dimensions of Hermeneutics PART TWO - The Valuative Dimension - 6. Evaluation as Knowledge - 7. Privileged Criteria in Evaluation - 8. Some Aims of Criticism - 9. Afterword: Knowledge and Value - Notes - Index |
Exemplaires (1)
| Code-barres | Cote | Support | Localisation | Section | Disponibilité |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CE/A 029 | CE/A 029 | Livre | Bibliothèque principale | Livres empruntables | Prêt possible Disponible |
