Problematyka twierdzeń prawdy w kontekście koła hermeneutycznego i teoretycznego paradygmatu literackiej różnorodności interpretacyjnej

Tomasz Kalaga

doi:10.56583/frp.3141

Published : 2025-06-30

No. 22 (2025)

The Problem of Truth-Claims in the Context of the Hermeneutic Circle and the Theoretical Paradigm of Multiple Literary Interpretations

Tomasz Kalaga

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8648-4004

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56583/frp.3141

Abstract

The text analyses the pluralism of contemporary literary theories and asks whether claims to truth are relevant when choosing a theory of interpretation. The author shows that although the multiplicity of approaches is sometimes considered an advantage, it raises the problem of interpretative validity, particularly evident in Jungian criticism, which makes strong metaphysical claims to truth. By juxtaposing Jungianism with relativistic positions (e.g., neopragmatism), the text points to the tension between theories that require belief in their ontological assumptions and those that treat interpretation as a rhetorical strategy. The author rejects a methodological resolution of this dispute and proposes the perspective of Heidegger and Gadamer’s ontological hermeneutics. In its light, the choice of theory does not result from an objective assessment of truth, but from the prior structure of understanding and belief inscribed in the hermeneutic circle.

Keywords:

interpretative pluralism, literary theory, claims to truth, hermeneutic circle, Jungian criticism, faith and interpretation

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Tomasz Kalaga, The Principle of Charity vs. Good Will. Dasenbrock, Gadamer and Davidson on Language as the Common Ground for Understanding in the Context of a Literary Canon , Fides, Ratio et Patria. Studia Toruńskie: No. 15 (2021): STATE SECURITY CHALLENGES

Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

PDF

Citation rules

Kalaga, T. (2025). The Problem of Truth-Claims in the Context of the Hermeneutic Circle and the Theoretical Paradigm of Multiple Literary Interpretations. Fides, Ratio Et Patria. Studia Toruńskie, (22), 235–247. https://doi.org/10.56583/frp.3141

Altmetric indicators

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

Baumlin J. S., Baumlin T. F., Jensen G. H., Post-Jungian Criticism. Theory and Practice, Albany 2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/book4758

Castle G., The Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory, Malden, Oxford, Carlton 2007.

Fike M. A., The One Mind. C. G. Jung and the Future of Literary Criticism, London and New York 2014.

Gadamer H-G., Truth and Method, New York 1982.

Heidegger M., Being and Time, translated by J. Macquarrie and E.Robinson, Oxford 2001.

Jung C. G., Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, translated by R. F. C. Hull, Princeton 1980.

King M., Heidegger’s Philosophy. A Guide to His Basic Thought, Oxford 1964.

Raval S., Grounds of Literary Criticism, Urbana and Chicago 1998.

Rorty R., The pragmatist’s progress, in: Interpretation and Overinterpretation, ed. S. Collini, Cambridge 2002.

Rowland S., Jungian Literary Criticism. An Essential Guide, London and New York 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315561752

Schmidt L. K., Uncovering hermeneutic truth, in: The Specter of Relativism. Truth, Dialogue, and Phronesis in Philosophical Hermeneutics, ed. L. K. Schmidt, Evanston, Illinois 1995.

Selden R., Widdowson P., Brooker P., A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. Fifth Edition, Harlow, London, New York 2005.

Silverman H., Textualities. Between Hermeneutics and Deconstruction, New York and London 1994.

Tomasz Kalaga

frep@aksim.edu.pl
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8648-4004

Affiliation:

Akademia Kujawsko-Pomorska Poland

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

PhD, Director of the Institute of Philological Sciences at the Kujawy and Pomorze University in Bydgoszcz. He studied at the University of Western Australia in Perth, Western Australia, and the University of Silesia in Katowice, where he obtained a doctorate in literary studies. An English scholar and literary theorist, he conducts research on interpretation in the borderline area between literature and philosophy. His research interests include hermeneutic theory and practice, cultural and literary semiotics, philosophy of and hermetic fields from an anthropological, cultural and philosophical perspective. He is the author of numerous scientific articles on literary theory, translations and a monograph on the correctness of text interpretation and meaning. He has been a visiting lecturer at numerous European universities, including in the United Kingdom, Spain, Finland, Sweden and Romania. He is a member of the Academic Board of Cambridge Scholars Publishing in the field of poetics and literary theory, and a member of the academic associations The Hermeneutics Exchange and The Society for Ricoeur Studies.