Interpreting Interpretation

Interpreting Interpretation, Volume 1, is a scholarly examination of literary education and the mechanics of meaning. Author William E. Rogers explores the intersection of philosophy, linguistics, and literary criticism to establish a new model for the humanities. By utilizing the semiotics of C. S. Peirce, the text introduces the concept of textual hermeneutics. This approach avoids the pitfalls of both strict cultural literacy and liberal ironism, treating the world itself as a text to be analyzed.

This work of semiotics and theory provides a rigorous method for understanding how people interact with interpretive statements. Through the analysis of poetry by Robert Frost and John Ashbery, Rogers demonstrates how to apply these interpretive systems to canonical texts. Interpreting Interpretation offers a sophisticated vocabulary for language arts and disciplines, arguing that the goal of humanities education is to teach methods of interpretation rather than a fixed curriculum.