Monday, February 5, 2024

Hermeneutic

Hermeneutic (pronounced hur-muh-noo-tik or hur-muh-nyoo-tik)

(1) Of or relating to hermeneutics; interpretative; explanatory.

(2) That which explains, interprets, illustrates or elucidates.

(3) In theology, of or relating to the interpretation of Scripture (technically when using or relating to hermeneutics but sometimes used more loosely)

1670s: From the Ancient Greek ἑρμηνευτικός (hermēneutikós) (of, skilled in, interpreting), the construct being hermēneú(ein) (to make clear, interpret (derivative of ἑρμηνεύς (hermēneús) (an interpreter) + -tikos (–tic).  The –tikos suffix was commonly used to form adjectives.  The Greek τικός (-tikos) was derived from the noun τι (-tis) (“one who does” or “related to”).  Typically, when –tikos was appended to a word, it conveyed the sense of “being related to, characterized by, or pertaining to the base word”.  It was used also (n various contexts) to create adjectives that describe qualities or characteristics associated with the base word.  The form in French was herméneutique.  Hermeneutic is a noun & adjective, hermeneuticist & hermeneut are nouns, hermeneutical is an adjective, hermeneutically is an adverb; the noun plural is hermeneutics.

Hermeneutics is now an overarching technical term which can (despite the disapproval of some) be used to describe all or some of the theories and practices of interpretation.  The word started life in academic theology and referred to the interpretation of scripture and biblical scholarship generally but by the early eighteenth century it was used also of the analysis of literature and philosophical texts.  Hermeneutics thus began as a practice which evolved into a formal discipline, the parameters of which have changed as needs arose and can now encompass any aspect of deconstruction, understanding or transmission.  Still most associated by some with scriptural interpretation (with all the controversy that implies), in modern use, hermeneutics is applied to law, philosophy, history or any field in which information is contained in texts (and as the post-modernists told us, “text” exists in many forms beyond the written or spoken word).

Despite the impression given by some sources, the terms hermeneutics and exegesis (from the Ancient Greek ἐξήγησις (exgēsis) (interpretation), from ἐξηγέομαι (exēgéomai) (I explain, interpret), the construct being ἐξ (ex-) (out) + ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai) (I lead, guide)) tend not to be used interchangeably, probably because both are elements in the jargon of specialists who field them with the necessary precision.  Both are approaches to the interpretation of texts but they have distinct focuses and differing methods of operation.  Exegesis describes a critical analysis of a text, the purpose being to understand its meaning, the primary focus being the extraction of the original or intended meaning, the historical and cultural context thus a tool of exegesis, undertaken often by the interplay of linguistic analysis and historical research.  Hermeneutics (at least in modern use) casts a wider vista although it too is a discipline built around a theory of interpretation which encompasses a range of principles which can be applied to texts, symbols and any means of communication.  The essence of hermeneutics is that as well as an understanding of original meanings in the context of the time, place and circumstances of their origin, there's also the ongoing process of interpretation which can consider not only previous research but also an understanding of the way interpretation is (and has historically been) influenced by the relationship between the interpreter and the text; the effect of an interpreter's biases (conscious and not), history and culture.  Implicit is this is the need to deconstruct the biases and assumptions inherent in language.  Given all that, although the purists might not approve, the techniques and tools of exegesis can be thought of as a sub-set of those of hermeneutics.

Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011.

The source of the word "hermeneutics" was once tangled up with a folk etymology which attributed a link to Hermes, in Greek mythology the son of Zeus and Maia.  Hermes had a troubled and eventful past which included the theft of livestock from the herd of Admetus which grazed in the (admittedly neglectful) care of his brother Apollo and the invention of the lyre which he fashioned from the shell of a tortoise with strings made from the gut of the unfortunate pair of the cattle he’d earlier sacrificed to the twelve gods.  A bit of a hustler, through a complicated series of trades and negotiations, Hermes emerged with the gift to prophesize the future and assumed the role of psychopomp (from the Latin psȳchopompus, from the Ancient Greek ψῡχοπομπός (psūkhopompós or psȳchopompós) (conductor (guide) of souls), the construct being ψῡχή (psūkh) (the soul, mind, spirit) + πομπός (pompós) (guide, conductor, escort, messenger).  It was the psychopomp who was given the task of escorting the souls of the dead to Hades, the psychopomp most familiar in popular culture being the grim reaper.  It’s not clear which of these many qualities and skills have over the last two centuries so appealed to the admirals of the Royal Navy that they chose HMS Hermes as the name of a dozen-odd warships, the Admiralty website blandly noting his role as divine messenger.  That was certainly what gave rise to the old story (which for years appeared in many dictionaries) of Hermes being the etymological source of “hermeneutic”, based on his role in interpreting divine will: Nephele, Amphion, Heracles, Perseus and Odysseus all benefiting from his skills.  Lending credence to that was the observation of more than one of the philosophers of Antiquity that interpretation of text matters because the same collection of words can be used to spread lies as well as truth so the task of Hermes was an important one although, being Hermes, in some of the myths its recounted how he wasn’t above “bending interpretations” to suit his own purposes.

Hermes, Aglauros & Herse in the chamber of Herse (1573), oil on canvas by Paolo Caliari (1528–1588).  The winged staff held by Hermes was the symbol of his position as divine messenger and Caliari depicts the scene in which Hermes has come to seduce the Athenian princess Herse.  Her sister Aglauros (a jealous type), attempts to prevent him entering her chamber but with a touch of his staff he will transform her into black stone and take what he wants.  Herse is shown apparently sanguine about her sister's sad fate; perhaps it was a difficult family.  It's a rarely painted subject and is from the epic-length Metamorphoses, by the Roman Poet Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BC–17 AD)

The connection with the sometimes dastardly Hermes is obviously an attractive tale but etymologists have concluded the true origin of "hermeneutic" lies in forms related to the Ancient Greek ρμηνεύω (hermēneuō) (translate, interpret), from ρμηνεύς (hermeneus) (translator, interpreter), of uncertain origin.  As ρμηνεία (hermeneia) (interpretation, explanation), it appears in the works of Aristotle (384-322 BC) which are among the oldest surviving philosophical texts in which appears the origins of textual analysis and the theoretical underpinning of the relationship between language and logic.

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