Hans-Georg Gadamer's “Literary And Artistic Understanding”

Gadamer sees understanding as an ontological event: the interpreters enter into the problematic horizon of the text through the equal dialogue and realize the fusion of horizons with it.This understanding process is called “effective history” which is used to highlight the nature of dialogue—“applicability” and promote the continuous creation of textual meaning.This effect let us think about how to deal with the relationship between the narrative of texts and diversity of understanding.This paper starts from the practical nature of Philosophical Hermeneutics,taking the "application" concept as the intermediary,all of these are for demonstrating that understanding is letting the textual horizon getting into our own hermeneutic circumstances.In this process,expositors are getting to know their situations and attaining "common understanding" with the way of " fusion of horizons" and then achieve unity.Gadamer particularly pays attention to literature and art,which has been viewed as a vehicle expounding the practical significance of hermeneutics.Literature and art is the symbol of the "effective history" in the field of aesthetic.Thus,this paper tries to discuss that Gadamer proves the truth of the literary and artistic experience by criticizng the "aesthetic consciousness" and then explain the characteristics of literature and art experience towards the holistic meanings and intrinsic historic which they have and he also states the viewpoint that the truth of literature and art expands their meanings and can reach the "sparkle" through works' own self-expression.For further,literary and artistic understanding is the realization of the literary and artistic experience,reading literary works is a typical “understanding” event which highlights readers to participate in textual meanings and which contains the “application” structure can demonstrate the character of practice.And then we should prove that literary and artistic understanding has universal significance of hermeneutics by explaining other arts and other hermeneutics phenomenon combined with the linguistic feature of understanding which means ontological turn.On the basis of this,literary and artistic experience and understanding is practical,which leads to the good life practice and the unification of beauty and goodness.Two aspects are included: On the one hand,in the beauty experience and understanding of human,people achieve self-reconciliation towards the poetic life.On the other hand,we can accomplish different goodness from individual level to human community through resonance and dialogue.Gadamer's "dialogue" theory enlightens us to accept and reflect on the horizons and opinions of others with "good" desire,and to accept the diversity of understanding so we can achieve more dialogue.We should participate in the unfolding of the literary and artistic truth,together with it whether happiness or pain,so we can always educate ourselves.Gadamer's "dialogue","Bildung" and so on will help us to inherit and rethink the Chinese Confucian concepts such as "Propriety-Music" and modern conception of "Aesthetic Education",and then can further connect with the actual situation of our country,and can also explore the reasonable paths and significance to "Aesthetic Education" in present situation of our country.