The Location Of Interpretation: Text, Reader, And Author

In the field of textual analysis, the designation of interpretation is heatedly debated and the arguments are tremendously diverged among scholars home and abroad. Text, reader and author are respectively accentuated and endowed with the accountability of the interpretation of the meaning of the text as a result of these debates. Relatively speaking, the co-effort of text, reader and author in the construction of the meaning of the text has not been as thoroughly studied as those of them studied separately. The thesis is an attempt to investigate the three interlinking factors, text, reader and author, in the process of interpretation and delve into the inherent characteristics of each factor, and uncover the limitations of the interpretive methods, in order to verify the location of the interpretation of the text. Thus, the thesis studies the issue of interpretation primarily from three perspectives. First of all, the investigation of the intratextual and extratextual factors of interpretation such as decontextualization, intertextuality and textuality, discloses the perpetual openness of the text, which renders the interpretation of text into a dynamic process. Secondly, different reading possibilities are surveyed. Misinterpretation, misreading, phenomenological reading, deconstructive readings are possible factors influencing interpretation. Owing to the reader's pluralistic participation in the reading of a text, the interpretation of the text is diversified. Thirdly, the authority of the author in interpretation in the long tradition and the deconstruction of the role of author in the postmodern-era cause more problems in interpretation. The disseminated traces of the author in the writing of the text lead readers to construct different meanings in the process of interpreting the text. By thus analysis, the thesis proposes that the location of interpretation should be constructed by the collaborative efforts of the text, the reader and the author.This thesis consists of five chapters: Chapter One reviews the studies of interpretation home and abroad in recent years and Chapter Two presents the theoretical foundations. Chapter Three concentrates on the study of the text, presenting the dynamic process of meaning of the text in terms of interpretation. Chapter Four focuses on the study of the reader, showing the reader's pluralistic participation in the interpretation of the text. Chapter Five revolves around the study of the author, demonstrating the loss of the author's authority in interpretation of the text. Chapter Six proposes that the location of interpretation is constructed by the collaborative efforts of the text, the reader and the author.