In this chapter, the idea I found the most interesting about the relationship between language and meaning is how context can shape the meaning of a piece of literature by looking at what time period it was written in and analyzing how people in this era were and how things were back then. But even context itself can be limitless, with famous pieces of text and their meaning changing as time goes on.

One example that I can think of that happened fairly recently is with JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. In the books, the bankers of the wizard world are controlled mostly by goblins. Back when these books were still being released, many people glossed over it as a fantasy thing. But after the recent controversies with JK Rowling and her extreme opinions, upon looking at the books with this in mind brings a different meaning to these goblins. In the books, they are described as goblins with “hooked noses” and “with a distrust for anyone else but their own kind”, which sounds extremely similar to racist caricatures of Jewish people.

After reading chapter 4 in “Literature, Meaning, and Interpretation” by Jonathan Culler, I found the point that he explain the relationship between people and language is interesting. I like what he said “the story one can tell about a given work depends upon what theorists have called the reader’s ‘horizon of expectactions’ “. It means the book’s author try to use his/her works express some message, it can be the meaning of language, and which it also usually influenced by their environment, like government. However, the most interesting point is people got  different thinking caused by their different education and different belief  in the “interactive” between them and the language.  This thinking may cause people improve themselves, for example, my first languare is chinese, so when I learning english, I usually think about “why this word meaning that ?”, it may encourage me to know the word’s background.  I think this also is the reason why there are so much words from other culture in much language, assimilate and create.

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.