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.

After reading chapter 4 ‘Language, Meaning and Interpretation’ by Jonathan Culler, there are three measurements of meaning: the first being the significance of a word, an expression, and a book. The subsequent measurement tends to the potential implications of words that add to the importance of an articulation, which is a demonstration by the speaker. The content, something the writer has built, and its importance isn’t a recommendation however what it does, its capability to influence perusers is the third measurement. All things considered, it is essential to take a gander at the entire picture while perusing a book, the strict language utilized, however why that particular language was utilized versus some other number of words. It is extremely unlikely of indicating that there are considerations of one language that can’t be thought or communicated in another, however, we do have proof that one language makes ‘common’ or ‘ordinary’ contemplations that require a unique exertion in another. This can likewise be separated by the sounds words make and the implications of each word, in light of the fact that the sound is comparative doesn’t imply that the word is. The meaning is the thing that somebody expects the peruser to understand. At times the importance is in the content and different occasions the setting is the thing that decides to mean. The significance of work to someone, in particular, may not be what the essayist proposed, and can vary among people. On the off chance that we need to concoct an understanding and, we need to convince others of its relevance. Which means is the experience of a subject and a property of a book.

In the “Literature, Meaning, and Interpretation” by Culler, the author discusses the connection between language and meaning. One of the ideas from this chapter that attract my attention is literature language can have different meaning. The understanding of the language depends to the meaning we accord to the words, the utterance we hear and how the text is structured.  There are different kind of writers, some of them are very simple and clear in their words and sentences they use to communicate with the readers but, others use some complex texts in their writing. For this kind of group, sometimes we can have some difficulties to understand the meaning of the text because of the style and form of the words they use. The meaning of the words can have different interpretation and that fact can change the meaning of the text. Furthermore, the utterance of the words can also give another signification of the text. In some cases, the sentence is written very simple, but the meaning of the language requires deep reflection to be understood. For some writers who use fiction to express their opinion, the meaning of the text can be related to the real situation which indirectly connected to text, that mean we have to be able to analyze deeply the text to understand the text. Also, in some particular situation our differences, for example our culture or origin can influence to the interpretation of the text, we can see or read the text in different angles. In addition, language of literature is one of the ways to learn how we can articulate words and give signification to the words.

The relationship between a word and the meaning can be clearly understood using chapter 4 by Culler. According to Culler, terms, setting, purpose, and readers’ skills happen to be the four prime factors influencing the interpretation of a poem. It relies on localism for these aspects to convey meanings with one another. With a more established and well-organized language use, the language policy can function better for the barriers will be fewer. Still, it can never be a perfect determining factor since the readers’ experiences can, at times, be insubordinate. The notion of intellectual competence draws attention from the implied understanding that readers involve in their experiences with narratives. However, the variation of meaning is simple with better pronunciation. In their early lives as kids, many people get hardships speaking even in their native languages, true to what Culler says in chapter 4 that one might have meant to say x, but what they say literally implies y. They end up being misunderstood and depressed that they decide to stop talking. The same way some people are better in arithmetic and practical classes than they like theory classes. They may experience difficulties coping with narratives, maybe because they feel their cerebral are not mature when it comes to words or only because they lack the attitude. But all the same, they have to work hard to adjust since language is compulsory.

In the chapter of “Literature, Meaning, and Interpretation”, Culler argues that language, which is used to present meaning, is not pre-existing, on contrary, the meaning of language is given by various interpretations of human, that makes language meaningful. Therefore, literature is not just about reading words or sentences, but thinking what information and emotion writer wants to pass to readers. On one hand, culler mentions that meaning should not be determined by words. Language as a sign of convention, is restricting the expression of writer and reader’s comprehension, idea and imaginary are limited because language too rigid to deliver them. On the other hand, while reading a literature, analyze writer’s situation and feeling is crucial, because without it, different meaning might be delivered to reader cause misunderstanding. A good lecture can be more likely to cause a positive respond to reader, however, it is normal to say reader might have different views on the same lecture. As well as writer, reader also have their own culture, experiences, and values that shape their personality, that makes even a language might have different meaning to them. As a result, reading is like an unknown chemistry reaction, when writer and reader’s idea crash together, you have no idea what would come out eventually.

In my view, I am most interested in is that if language is created to deliver meaning, then meaning should not be bounded by words, but what if we create new words or languages to help us express and understand better, how do we deliver the exactly same meaning or felling to everyone?

According to the chapter, there are three dimensions or levels of meaning: the first being the meaning of a word, of an utterance, and of a text. The first dimension is the word which is the literal meaning of the word. The second dimension addresses the possible meanings of words that contribute to the meaning of an utterance, which is an act by the speaker. The third dimension is text, something the author has constructed, and its meaning is not a proposition but what it does, its potential to affect readers. It is important to look at the whole picture while reading a text, not just the literal language that the author used, the same literal language in the different pictures may present a totally different meaning. I was interested in how language can be a system of differences, his theory of language states that “what makes each element of a language what it is, and what gives it its identity, are the contrasts between it and other elements within the system of the language” (58). Since language is a system of signs and the key facts, Saussure calls this “arbitrary nature of the linguistic sign”, which means the sign is a combination of a form and a meaning, and the relation between form and meaning is based on convention, not natural resemblance. Each language is a system of concepts as well as forms: a system of conventional signs that organize the world. Meaning is the experience of a subject and a property of a text; what we understand and what we try to understand.

   I see that the most interesting idea in this chapter is the part that relates to “language and thought.” As Culler says that there is a theory that says “language expresses the existing ideas by providing methods for this.” So language and thought interact in many significant ways, thought comes first, while language is an expression of what we think. Also each specific language has its own influence on the thought and action of its speakers. Likewise, according to Culler, Expressing ideas that we think are easy and natural in our language may require a great effort from us to express them in another language. This brings us to an important point, anyone who has learned more than one language is struck by the many ways in which languages differ from one to another. I think that this part reminds me of myself when I started learning languages other than Arabic. Sometimes it was very difficult for me to express what I was thinking in English, I felt like my thoughts were frozen, and other times I couldn’t express them at all. Therefore, Culler mentions that literary works often try to reconfigure ideas in order to be able to express things that we did not expect to think of before. The relationship between language and thinking is often a strong one, but literature generates other ideas so we can see a different reality.