semiotics

[Michael J. Hußmann]

John Doe (tristero69 at yahoo.com) wrote:

> how would ANY communication occur, if everyone saw EVERY item as
> completely "open" to interpretations other than those
> in mind of the writer?

The fact is that I, as the reader, interpret a text in a certain way
(and maybe in a different way, once I've re-read the same text tomorrow,
or in a year). My interpretation(s) will depend on my knowledge about
syntax and semantics of the language used, on my encyclopedic knowledge,
on my beliefs about the author (including his intentions in general) and
so on. But there's one thing on which it does not depend, namely on what
the author had in mind -- for the simple reason that I do not and cannot
know what that is. I may be quite certain to know what his
perlocutionary intent was, but that is merely an inference, and not an
inference guaranteed to be sound.

> Clearly YOU must read recipes,
> instructions for use on the back of products; do you
> always question the intended meaning of THOSE "texts"?

Sometimes I wonder what is meant, sometimes I am reasonably sure. But I
may be wrong anyway.

> ...a text is not a device for generating
> interpretations;there is always the
> "what-the-writer-had-in-mind" 

"what-the-writer-had-in-mind" is a notion that figures just fine within
a theory, but in practice you have no access to what the writer had in
mind. You have to rely on conjecture. And when you think you realize
what the author wanted to convey, you might still think you can look
through that -- because by reading between the lines, you discover the
authors real intention. And again, you may be totally wrong about this.

> but try convincing yourself you DON'T have
> intentions when you write

Having specific intentions while writing is neither here nor there. You
write a text, you publish it, and eventually someone reads the text.
There's no mind-reading going on.

- Michael


Michael J. Hußmann

E-mail: michael at michael-hussmann.de
WWW (personal): http://michael-hussmann.de
WWW (professional): http://digicam-experts.de