Ricoeur's Interpretation Theory

I've spent the weekend trying to get my mind around Ricoeur's Interpretation Theory. The figure at the left summarizes what I have learned.

Historically, exegesis and appropriation have stood in opposition to each other . It has been thought that an epistemological hermeneutic (Schleiermacher) stands in natural opposition to a ontological hermeneutic (Heidegger). Ricoeur attempts bridge the gap between the two in his concept of a hermeneutic arc. Ricoeur accepts the necessity of exegesis as a grounding point for appropriation. This is appropriate because of the nature of text. Text differs from discourse in the sense that the fixation of text in a medium has endowed the text with a life that is separate from the author, obstensive references, and its original audience. Thus, the text is an object for analysis. Second, it is not in acquiescence to some superiority of the natural sciences that calls for an epistemological starting point, but rather the nature of linguistics that provides text with a structural system that can be analyzed.

Appropriation is the ontological grounding of interpretation in lived experience. For Ricoeur (1981) appropriation means "to make one's own what was initially alien" (p. 185). Appropriation "actualizes the meaning of the text for the present reader" (p. 185).

It is the hermeneutic arc that restrains appropriation from becoming simply a subjective interpretation and that prohibits the relativism of all interpretations to same value; which, of course, would mean that no interpretation could be generalized outside of the interpreter.

By proceeding from an epistemological grounding toward an ontological grounding, the rigor of various exegetical and hermeneutic methods are applied to the text that allow an appropriation to emerge that "follows the 'arrow' of meaning [within the text] and endeavors to 'think in accordance with it'" (p. 193). The callouts above the arch: intertexture analysis, metaphor analysis, and plot analysis are the analytic tools I intend to employ the find the "arrows of meaning" that will point me through the text to new new understandings about organizational leadership and new self-understanding.

Reference

Ricoeur, P. (1981). Appropriation (J. B. Thompson, Trans.). In J. B. Thompson (Ed.), Paul Ricoeur hermeneutics and the human sciences: Essays on language, action, and interpretation (pp. 182-193). New York: Cambridge University Press.

How I Regrouped and Re-Started the Writing Even When Life Encroached

Sep 22nd, 2007 by Nancy Whichard

I’ve been on a trip, away from my writing projects and away from other job-related commitments. It’s hard to come back.

I enjoy writing my blog. I also have another writing project that is new and important to me, but re-starting takes effort.

Coming back to most writing tasks requires more of us than just doing it.

1) It takes self-awareness.
I needed to give myself permission to feel whatever it was that was getting in my way.

2) I am free to choose.
I had quite a bit of work piled up from all corners of my work life, and some of it was stressful—the kind of piddly stuff that clutters my brain and annoys me. But in my absence, the piddly stuff had grown to a nose-high level. I could groan and moan and continue to push through that work, becoming increasingly cranky, or I could give myself permission to choose.

3) Take a moment.
I needed to give myself a moment to settle in and regroup. I needed to sit quietly.

4) Write whatever comes into your mind.
Usually ideas come to me as I write, and I need to write in order to remember this. I am often surprised as I start to write that ideas actually start coming to me, just as they usually do. I tell my clients to trust themselves. Likewise, I need to trust myself. And take a moment. And remember that I am free to choose.

See this and other similar tips at Successful Writing Tips

What to do when it all falls apart?

Well, the past two weeks have been almost a complete loss as far as my dissertation progress is concerned. Work has been overwhelming. The time I would have spend working on my dissertation in the evenings and on the weekends has been devoted to meeting deadlines for work.

Consequently, I am very off target on all of my self-imposed deadlines for my dissertation. So what to do?

1) Remember to trust the process. Their are forces at work that I cannot see. Personally, I believe the hand of God is directing my path. So, I need to have faith that what seem to be diversions "from the straight and narrow path" are, in fact, God's way of taking me on a better route.
2) Get back in the saddle and keep doing the right things. Today, I spent all day reading.
3) Remember that reading is writing. One cannot write until one reads and reflects. It is difficult because I want to see text flowing on my computer screen. However, the reading and reflecting that I am doing will eventually give way to the flow.

Getting Things Done in Academica

Check out this excellent website created by Dr. Mike Kaspari . This blog is dedicated to exploring the strategies and tactics of the academic life.

Dr Kaspari is Director of the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Oklahoma. When he is not teaching, he studies the evolutionary ecology of ants and the brown food web.

You will find the link to this site in my blog roll Dissertation Help Online in the left column on this page.

Building an argument for John's Apocalypse as the data source

Today I made more progress on the introduction and submitted what I've done to my dissertation chair for comments

I've spent a good deal of time setting the conceptual ground work for the choice of John's Apocalypse as the data source. I wrote a little over two pages on this - which I will not post. Here's the central proposition:

Like John and the first century Christians, our ordinary lives are full of contingencies. Some are locally chaotic and threaten global chaos. There are so many potential disasters on our horizon that finding “meaning,” if it exists, may seem pointless. As John spoke meaning into the chaotic and nihilistic context of the first century through his Apocalypse, his words as we experience them in the 21^st century context speak to our time – our chaos, our nihilism, and our contingencies.

Trusting the Process

Today I worked about 4 hours on my dissertation and wrote about 2 pages. I'm please with that progress, but progress is feeling mighty slow right now! I had hoped to finish the first chapter by tomorrow but I'm far from done.

As I was reflecting on this situation this evening, I remembered the words of Dr. Mike Hartsfield, who was the Program Director of my PhD program when I started in 2003. In reference to becoming a doctor and being discouraged by one's perceived progress he said, "You've got to trust the process." I've always taken that to mean, if you keep working hard and doing what you need to do you can trust that through that process you will eventually become a doctor.

So, in the face of this slow going, I have to just keep working hard (and try to work smart) and keep doing what I know I need to do. As I trust that process, the dissertation will get done.

Took the day off

I took the day off from writing today. I spent it mostly with my son Mark. We took our new Sea Eagle 330 on its maiden voyage today. We also played catch, cut the grass together, went to Subway for lunch, and had a family cookout this evening - and that's a good slice of the meaning of life for me!