專八真題:2006年Mini-lecture(2/8)

Now let's take a look at the first approach, that is, meaning is what is intended by the author. Does a work of literature mean what the author intended to mean? And if so, how can we tell? If all the evidence we have is the text itself and nothing else, we can only guess what ideas the author had according to our understanding of literature and the world. In order to have a better idea of what one particular author means in one of his works, I'd suggest that you do the following. First, go to the library and read other works by the same author. Second, get to know something about what sort of meanings seemed to be common in literary works in that particular tradition and at that time. In other words, we need to find out what the literary trends were in those days. And last, get to know what were the cultural values and symbols of the time. I guess you can understand the author's meaning much more clearly after you do the related background research.