After reading chapter 4 in “Literature, Meaning, and Interpretation” by Jonathan Culler, the point that stood to me was the way that Culler explains the understanding of the diction and the meaning around it. “Meaning or words contribute to the meaning of an utterance.” After reading this text it made me wonder how literary works like Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare or even the poem ‘My Love is like a red, red rose’ by Robert Bruns can use language is such different ways but have a similar meaning behind them. They use different styles of language to better portray the message the author intended them to have. Culler gives another great example he talks about, many languages have words with common meanings found in other languages but they are written and pronounced differently. I know this first hand as I am fluent in both Spanish and English. When I’m having a conversation with someone in Spanish the words can convey the same meanings a conversation in English would have. The tone of our voice and body language while talking help our understanding as well.

In chapter 4 of “Literature, meaning and interpretation” by Johnathan Culler, I found “Language and thought” the most interesting. It talked about various ways language has an impact on everything. “Different languages divide up the word differently.” The language we use influences our surroundings. We use language to express our feelings and any ideas we have. My native language is Hindi. I usually mix up english in my Hindi to put more depth in my words. Since I talk more in English than I do in Hindi it can be difficult to find the correct words to say in Hindi. However, I do feel like some words in English are very basic and don’t convey my message as I want to. “But we do have massive evidence that one language makes ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ thoughts that require a special effort in another.” I agree with this statement because I feel like when I talk in Hindi I don’t have to put in effort to get my point across because some words have so much depth in them. 

One idea from this chapter that striked me as interesting regarding the relationship between language and meaning is meaning, intention, and context. Culler says that can be based on the author’s intention, the context, the text itself, or the reader, and that because of this meaning is elusive (p.65). I think the most interesting claim Culler makes is that literature is more about what the reader interprets that what the author thought of when writing because literature and linguistics focus on structure more than they do meaning. This, in my opinion, is what can make a piece of literature timeless. Whether the author was thinking of feminism, post-colonial structure, or “the heterosexual matrix,” the themes should be clear to the reader no matter what time period the piece is read in.

According to the chapter, one of the most crucial points is there are three different standards of meaning. First is what the word means literally. Secondly, consider what other meanings the word may include. And thirdly what the word actually means at the content of the text. So the reader has to look at the whole picture to understand the meaning of it, such as what is the speaker means by the word in this sentence and in this content specifically. because the same sentence might have different meanings in the same content so we have to be aware of that.

In addition “language and thought.” was more interesting for me that is because language is a tool to express our ideas. Arabic is my native language and I feel more comfortable using it to analyze situations or using the same word in different circumstances and it makes a perfect sense which I don’t think about English. English is a very scientific language and it is not that rich to express feelings or ideas. and the structure of the sentence has a significant difference so I struggled to learn English and I understand exactly what the author means at this point.

In chapter 4 “Language, meaning, and interpretation” Culler describes three different dimensions or levels of meaning. For example, the meaning of a word, of an utterance, and of a text. One of the most interesting parts of this chapter is when Culler explains how language and thought are related. Culler uses one example of thought and language when saying “language just provides names for thoughts that exist independently”. This intrigued me because I never thought of language as any deeper than just a means of communication. Culler later says that some languages such as English can’t express a conception of time due to the restrictions from our language. Culler goes on to say “There seems no way of demonstrating that there are thoughts of one language that can’t be thought or expressed in another” which is true, in Spanish, there aren’t any gender-neutral way to address someone, unlike English. As years go by languages like Spanish adapt to changes and create new words to describe things like gender.

After reading chapter 4, “Literature, meaning and interpretations”, I have understood the relationship between language, its meaning and its interpretations.  As Culler discussed in the article, we can not just ask meanings from words. Meaning is based on difference and determined by four factors which are intention, text, context and experiences of readers. It is very difficult to ask about meaning since there are various dimensions or level of meanings: the meaning of a word, of an utterance and of a text, and sometimes it is possible for these factors to transform with each other. The meaning of a literary work can be interpreted differently based on personal experience, culture, language, and so forth. There is a saying stating that “There are a hundred Halmets in a hundred people’s eyes”. When it comes to literary works, people have their own specific understanding of the context of the works and build up their own characters and scenarios in their mind.

In the chapter “literature, meaning, and interpretation,” Culler states three different dimensions, there are the meaning of word, of an utterance, and of a text. I am interested in“ meaning, intention, and context” in this chapter.  People are accustomed to thinking that the meaning of an utterance is what someone means, or understand the intention rather than meaning.  Actually, intention, text, context, and readers all determine the meaning. They influence meaning together. Culler states that the meaning of work is what the writer accomplished, not what the writer thinks during the process of writing and what the writer’s thinking at some moment in writing.  Meaning is a notion, it is more about what people understand and try to understand in the text. Culler says “meaning is context-bound, but context is boundless.” I think this sentence is the most important point of this part of the chapter. For example, my friend asked if I had a good day on my birthday, I answered yes. The meaning of this thing is that I had a good experience on my birthday. My friend may think that I received a lot of previous gifts and think about what a beautiful place that I did. She began to imagine more details about context. People can read the same article and experience the meaning, they will construct different contexts.  We watched a movie as young, as we are adults, we will watch it again, we will have different feelings. The context is changing because of the background. Meaning is context-bound, but context is boundless. 

After I read this chapter, In the process of analyzing literature, the author breaks down “literature” and analyzes the meanings given by sentences or words.Words have no real meaning, but are given meaning artificially.In my opinion, words tend to be a kind of symbol, and people’s cognition of such a symbol is often related to their experience or education, because people’s cognition of words is endowed with meaning, and the meaning is not significant with the words themselves.When Reading this article gave me an idea.Let’s say a person sees something blue, and it looks blue to him.Then the person tells the other person that this is blue, the color of melancholy.The other person sees the same thing, but it’s not blue in his eyes, it’s green.Because of his education or experience, he thinks that something he sees is “blue” even if it is not blue, and the green in his eyes is given a melancholy meaning.People experience things differently, even when facing the same thing.But the same thing can be given meaning and become a recognition.Another interesting point of this passage is that identifying literature is subject to subjective conditions.Even in the rational analysis of literature, from structure, sentences or words, this process is truly rational.However, the final conclusion from the word is that the word itself is subjective and perceptual, and its meaning is endowed by people.

After I read this chapter, I think the author defined that language is used to express and impart meaning, and it is not pre-existing, even though language has existed for a long time. In fact, the meaning of language existence is given by human beings with various meanings, which makes the language have the necessary meaning. I think literature is not only about reading words, but also about what information and emotions the author want to convey to readers. Because just reading the text is rigid and without any emotion. In this chapter, as Culler mentions, that meaning should not be determined by words. As a conventional symbol, language has certain limitations on the author’s way of expression and the reader’s own understanding ability, so the thinking and imagination are limited by the rigidity of language. In my opinion, when reading literary works, the most important thing is how to analyze the author’s situation and views, because, without it, different meanings may be transmitted to readers and cause misunderstanding. For example, a good lecture in a university is more likely to elicit a positive reaction from the audience. However, it is normal to say that the audience may have different views on the same class because their understanding and opinions will be different. I think that just like commenting on a writer, readers have their own educational level, life experience, and values, which shape their unique personality, which makes a language have different meanings for them. For those of us who are a second language, reading some English books has different views because of the different educational concepts. Comparatively speaking, it is different from people who are English as a first language. Therefore, I think reading is like an unknown secret waiting to be explored and discovered. There will be resonance and opposition. We should not limit our thoughts and opinions so that whenever we read a book, we feel that the text is as fresh as ever. I think that’s the meaning of reading.