Lost in Interpretation : Hans-Georg Gadamer on contemporary culture and art

The considerations presented in this book concern the problem of hermeneutic interpretation, both generally and in relation to the perception of culture, including art in particular. I assume that we may refer to the concept of interpretation everything that has been said in hermeneutics concerning the understanding, application, truth, and practical aspect of this theory. It is also essential that within the present reflections art should be included within a wider context of problems regarding general understanding and the significance of studies in the humanities, culture, and tradition. The paper includes reconstruction and critical discussion of the proposals of the author of Truth and Method as well as development of this theory through selection of the most important (in my opinion) threads from the point of view of the issue under consideration, followed by their characterization. The first part of the book (chapters one to three) serves to describe the concept of interpretation in a broad context; the second part (chapters four to six) aims to clarify its meaning. In this connection, in the first chapter I characterize hermeneutics as a universal theory of interpretation and clarify the significance and functions fulfilled by interpretation within a broader philosophical and cultural context. In the second chapter, I characterize culture and the society associated with it as the basis and object of interpretation. I also define the status of art theory and artistic practices in relation to the issues elaborated by Gadamer. Chapter three includes a description of interpretation as a basic experience for every human being, as well as a clarification of what constitutes the hermeneutic concept of rationality. In the following chapters, i.e. four, five, and six, I characterize hermeneutic interpretation by referring to three concepts: truth, rhetoric, and eroticism. This method of describing hermeneutic interpretation represents my attempt to approach the issue. I consider the three above-mentioned concepts essential, even constitutive, in grasping the specifics of hermeneutic interpretation. These are necessary and distinctive features of interpretation, determining whether a given interpretation is hermeneutic rather than any other kind (e.g., psychological, structuralist, deconstructivist).