التأويلُ "الهرمينوطيقا" تعريفُه وقضاياه: جدليَّـةُ الأصالةِ والتجديدِ

"Hermeneutics", Its Definition and Issues: Dialectics of Authenticity and Renewal

Abstract

This research studies the term "hermeneutics", its definition, function and development in pre-modern and modern times. This term was limited to textual interpretation and then expanded to include the entire process of interpretation. The research examines the meaning of "hermeneutics" in the works of German philosophers who returned to the origins and whose views occupy an important place in this discussion. Hermeneutics, like interpretation, was initially concerned with the interpretation of texts, but since the 19th century it has become a theory of comprehension and understanding. It developed in Bible studies, with historical, cultural and linguistic perspectives rather than theological ones, and extended to new processes dealing with classical literature. The theorists of the twentieth century saw that the meaning of hermeneutics is constantly evolving. The discussion distinguishes between 19th century romantic hermeneutics, the celebration of meaning and its historical period, and 20th century modern theory, philosophical hermeneutics through acts of understanding rather than the creation of meaning. It highlights the process of interaction among the writings of the predecessors and the successors, pointing to the most important ideas of Friedrich Schleiermacher, Wilhelm Dilthey, Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Paul Ricoeur, Frederick Jameson, Jürgen Habermas, Peter Szondy and Manfred Frank. The research reviews the ideas of hermeneutics and their use in modern theories until the end of the twentieth century. The basic theories of hermeneutics are concerned with deriving meaning and assembling it, and with sacred texts, and the theory that contradicts the first and whose sources are concentrated in the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. This is in addition to the theory of hermeneutics, which sees language and words as a means of transmission of ideas, and is related to post-structuralism, deconstructive theory, reader response and other modern hermeneutic theories. This is in addition to the understanding that seeks to resolve the conflict between hermeneutic theory and post-structuralism by highlighting the role of unfixed meaning only while emphasizing the impossibility of defining a fixed meaning. This research is based on a historical, descriptive and critical method in reviewing the meanings, functions and development of hermeneutics through a dialectical and critical interaction so rich in ideas. It draws on the most important references on this subject, in Arabic or in translation, and presents the main ideas in a scholarly manner through an open discussion capable of dialogue and development of those ideas.

Keywords: Hermeneutics, Interpretation, Romantic Theory, Modern German Philosophy, Post-Structuralism, Reader Response, Deconstruction, Linguistic Criticism.