Citation:
Whitman, Jon . 2006. “Thinking Backward and Forward: Narrative Order and the Beginnings of Romance”. Partial Answers 4(2): 131-150. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/244985.
Abstract:
Is there a “basic” meaning to a text? Or is every text ambiguous from the start? Insofar as a foundational work may be considered to be multivalent in meaning, by what principles do interpreters assess its “literal” sense? How broadly do they construe its scope — and what are the conceptual and historical implications of such perspectives? From antiquity to modernity, far-reaching changes in approach to literality are not just efforts to “figure out” words. Aiming to formulate relationships between words and events, they are efforts to figure out the world.
(updated on June 21, 2024)