Dickman/Interpretation, 4. The Objects of Interpretation

Chapter Four, The Objects of Interpretation, turns to a theory of written texts, expanding on our discussion above where we distinguished books and texts. This involves examining how writing transforms discourse in a way that spoken and signed languages do not. Through writing, we can communicate across space and time in ways speech does not allow, but we can also build worlds for imaginative exploration and transformation of our immediate experiences and perceptions. For example, are we facing forward, or North, or toward Mecca? Moreover, we will refine the priority of questioning in interpretation to specify the logic of question and answer in relation to specific sentences composing texts. Questions help us weave lines of the text into a broader fabric of meanings into an interpretation. One notion in particular shapes how we have received texts over time is the “classic,” texts that have the power to continue to speak to future generations of readers.