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.
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Hello Xu,
I like your post. And I have to add that the saying you have used about the helmets is, in my opinion, sometimes very easily applicable even in the spoken language, not only in literature. I mean, one can say something, and the other understand the completely different meaning.