Title: Meaning & interpretation
First published: 1994
Description: "What is the meaning of a word?" In this thought-provoking book, G. L. Hagberg demonstrates how this question - which initiated Wittgenstein's later work in the philosophy of language - is significant for our understanding not only of linguistic meaning but of the meaning of works of art and literature as well.

Adopting a Wittgensteinian method in close readings of the short fiction of Henry James, Hagberg reveals how literary interpretation itself may be practiced as a form of philosophical investigation.

Hagberg first considers in detail Wittgenstein's views on meaning, particularly such notoriously difficult central concepts as the "language-game" and the "form of life." He uncovers in Wittgenstein's philosophy the interrelations between linguistic and artistic "microcosms," between verbal and stylistic coherence, between linguistic and artistic limits to what may be expressed, and between general meaning and aesthetic significance.

Fundamentally, Hagberg examines Wittgenstein's account of the importance of particularized usage and of context in determining the meaning of word or work of art. In his interpretation of James's short fiction, Hagberg rethinks such problems as the widely assumed but misleading distinction between interpretive perception and description. In addition, he draws striking parallels between the complex processes of coming to understand a person and of coming to understand a work of art.

Throughout, Hagberg demonstrates a heightened sensitivity to the powerful influence on aesthetic thinking of formulations of questions that are too often accepted as given.
Subjects: Knowledge, Theory of, in literature, Theory, Meaning (Philosophy) in literature, History and criticism, Criticism and interpretation, Fiction, Wittgenstein, ludwig, 1889-1951, Meaning (philosophy), James, henry, 1843-1916, Fiction, history and criticism
People: Henry James (1843-1916), Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
LC classification: PS2124 .H34 1994