Single Idea 20927

[catalogued under 21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 8. The Arts / b. Literature]

Full Idea

The 'hermeneutic circle' of understanding is not between the author and the reader, but between my understanding myself in my own world, and the world projected by the text, with its possibilities for life.

Gist of Idea

The hermeneutic circle is between the reader's self-understanding, and the world of the text

Source

Jens Zimmermann (Hermeneutics: a very short introduction [2015], 4 'How texts')

Book Reference

Zimmerman,Jens: 'Hermeneutics: very short introduction' [OUP 2015], p.67


A Reaction

I'm not much of a fan of hermeneutics, but this idea seems quite important. Readings of Dickens in1860, 1930 and 2020 are very different events. For example, which parts catch the reader's interest, or jar with their sensibilities?