There are many ways of approaching a text and interpretation is the most important and controversial way to explore a text. A hermeneutics and an erotics of art, which are the types of interpretation, will be explored in this essay to discuss ways of approaching a text. Besides, ‘Against Interpretation’ will be a main reference in this essay. ‘In place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art’ is the famous and controversial statement which suggested by Susan Sontag and it will be the blueprint of this essay and the direction of the discussion will follow it. In the first part, the interpretation theory of hermeneutics will be discussed. In the second part, the problem of hermeneutics, which was discussed in ‘Against Interpretation’, will be explored and it is also the bridge to connect the first part and the third part (An erotics of art).
Hermeneutics Hermeneutics is one of the most ancient interpretation theories in the world and many scholars are influenced by it even today. Hermeneutics is come from the Greek word 'Ερμηνεύς which means interpreter. 'Ερμηνεύς is related to the Greek god called Hermes. In Greek myth, he is an interpreter and his job is responsible for distributing messages to the gods. The original meaning of it is the process of translation. Hermeneutics is one of the interpretation theories and it is a method to understand and classify the meanings of texts. In hermeneutics, the manifest content(all observable phenomena) need to be probed and pushed aside to find the true meaning(the latent content) It focus on analyze the content to find the ‘true’ meanings in order to approach a text. It is also the doctrines of Marx and Freud. Besides, it also proclaims that it is the most objective way to approach a text. It is including the background of the authors, grammar, style, structure and