Synopses & Reviews
Does interpretation have anything to do with truth? This new theory of interpretation denies this, yet it argues that some interpretations are false and some are just. These theses are justified through a pragmatic model of interpretation as a language-game involving five participants: an author, a text, a reader, a language, and an encyclopedia. The model claims to provide an account of both literary interpretation and face-to-face dialogue. The central intuition is that authorial intention is radically separated from textual meaning and that consequently, the reader's role is one of necessary imposture.
Synopsis
Why is it that all interpretations are possible, and none is true? That some interpretations are just, but some are false? Lecercle draws on the resources of pragmatics, literary theory and the philosophy of language to propose a new theory of literary, but also of face-to-face, dialogue that charts the interaction between the five participants in the fields of dialogue and/or interpretation: author, reader, text, language and encyclopaedia. Interpretation is taken through its four stages, from glossing and enigma solving to translation and intervention.
Synopsis
Draws on pragmatics, literary theory and the philosophy of language to propose a new theory of literary dialogue.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-247) and index.
About the Author
Jean-Jacques Lecercle is Professor of English at the University of Paris at Nanterre.
Table of Contents
Pragmatics of Interpretation * "Let Him Have It, Chris" * Alter Ego * The Reader, or: Imposture * The Author, or: Intention * Language, or: Interpellation * Encyclopedia, or: The Pragmatics of Literature
Pragmatics of Interpretation * "Let Him Have It, Chris" * Alter Ego * The Reader, or: Imposture * The Author, or: Intention * Language, or: Interpellation * Encyclopedia, or: The Pragmatics of Literature