Each of us daily faces the need to interpret a certain amount of information. Whether it's basic communication, a professional duty, or something else, we all have to "translate" common words and expressions into a language we can understand.
General information
The phrase "interpretation of the text" causes rather contradictory associations. For some, it is associated with something very complex, boring, certainly scientific, it’s all the fault, most likely, the first part of the term. The word "interpretation" is interpreted as the work of thinking, which consists in deciphering the meaning of a phenomenon for its understanding and subsequent work with it, and if we interpret this long and complex sentence into understandable language, then we can say that interpretation is the adaptation of the text for one's own perception and understanding. In principle, everything is not so difficult, it is enough to understand the principle of working with text, not only written, but also oral, and also to realize the importance of individuality and subjectivity in the perception of information.
Why is this needed?
Let's start by defining, forwhy is the laborious process of interpreting the text necessary? Most often, it is associated with the analysis necessary for the subsequent creation of your own text, as, for example, in the tasks of the GIA and the Unified State Examination, where you need to write a presentation. In this case, interpretation, understanding of texts is the key to success. But at the same time, the ability to work correctly with written information is important not only in exams, but also in everyday life. So, our ability to understand a written text largely depends on the ability to basic communication - the main skill of any member of society: incorrect interpretation of the text can lead to misunderstanding, and if in the case of literary works this does not pose any danger, then misperception of the text within the framework of communication can lead to conflicts, which is definitely a serious problem.
Now science
Interpretation of literary texts as a separate science took shape only in the twentieth century. It became known as hermeneutics. Some researchers say that the main task of this field of knowledge is "to get used to the text so much that you understand it better than the author himself." Usually this science is considered within the framework of philosophy, but it is pointless to reject its independence.
Origins
Interpretation comes into play in early childhood. Of course, there are some general concepts and ideas that are universal for all children, but as soon as the child begins to show individuality,the first features of the perception of various phenomena appear. It all starts with pictures and drawings, and later with the skill of reading, the originality of interpretations is transferred to works.
Some researchers say that unusual reactions are signs of pathology in the development of children, but at the same time, everything can be explained by the non-standard thinking of children, manifested at such a young age. It is likely that this is how geniuses are born who see the world in a completely different way. In no case should children be punished for their extraordinaryness, on the contrary, it should be encouraged and developed in every possible way.
A little about school methods
As part of the school curriculum, such methods of text interpretation as presentation and composition are considered. If in the first case everything is clear: you need to delve into the source text, understand the author's intention and reflect it in your own work, then with the essay everything is much more interesting. Here the main interpretation of the text is used. Examples of such activities are a continuation essay, where the student's task is to develop the storyline started by the author, or a response essay, in which it is required to express one's attitude to the author's position, naturally substantiating it.
The most difficult type of essay is reasoning, which requires a detailed analysis and interpretation of the text. It is they who will become the basis for an absolutely independent work, connected with the original only by the main thoughts and provisions that the student will speak about.
Turn to poetry
It's hard to say which is more difficult: interpreting a poetic text or working with prose. A feature of the literary language is the ambiguity of words, which significantly complicates understanding: the same concept can be interpreted in completely different ways, especially if this word has changed its lexical meaning over time, for example, a “triple student” in the modern sense is a student, getting not the best marks, while in the texts of the nineteenth and early twentieth century it will be about a coachman who rules a trio of horses.
Another problem in the interpretation of a poetic text is tropes. Allegories, metaphors and epithets, which are not always clear to a simple layman, become a real disaster, especially for a modern schoolchild, to whom many concepts of classical literature are alien. In addition, people perceive phenomena differently, so it is impossible to say with absolute certainty that the interpretation of a poetic text will be correct if individual interpretation of concepts is possible.
Prose of life
Interpreting a prose text is fraught with the same difficulties as a poetic one. Again a different, individual interpretation of individual concepts, again an incomplete understanding of words - the only thing easier is that in prose there are usually fewer means of artistic expression, and, as a rule, they do not complicate the understanding of the text.
In principle, for successful interpretation, one can engage in precise“translation”, if this phenomenon can be called that, is to clearly check the lexical meaning of each word of the proposed fragment, select combinations that are optimal for expressing thoughts, and practically rewrite the text completely relying on synonymous constructions. Or you can use a technique that linguists call a linguistic guess: in this case, it is not necessary to know the exact meaning of each word, it becomes clear from the situation.
The second method demonstrates a fairly high level of language proficiency, but at the same time does not provide one hundred percent accuracy of interpretation. The advantages of this method include the fact that the same word can have a number of lexical meanings that are different in their shade (for example, “ambitiousness” can be both a positive and a negative quality, depending on the context), and linguistic conjecture makes it possible to avoid the monotonous search for the correct meaning, simply by demonstrating the necessary semantic connotation in the text.
Maybe not?
Interpretation of any text is possible even without a clear definition of the lexical meaning of each individual word. It all depends on how deep understanding of the text is needed. For example, the well-known phrase of the linguist Shcherba "The shaggy curl of the shteko huddled the bokra and kudlachit the bokrenka." None of the words in the presented sentence has any meaning, but at the same time, the interpretation of the text is possible: someone showed aggression towards an adult, and now continues not quite correctactions directed at the child. In this situation, specification is not necessary.
Such tasks for children are very interesting: exercises of this kind will allow them to maximize their creative abilities, giving them the opportunity to form a unique system of images based on the individual perception of the text: everyone will see the same “hairy Kurd” in their own way, as and bokra with bokrenok.
Foreign languages
A separate case for consideration is the interpretation of a literary text in a foreign language. Here, national traditions and ethnic characteristics, even some regional aspects of the language, peculiar only to a particular area, can play a role.
Working with such a text is more like writing one's own: the main idea is preserved, and everything else is simply rewritten from scratch, already adapted for the reader's understanding, far from the peculiarities of the original language.
This is a real art - the correct interpretation of the text. Examples are Shakespeare's sonnets translated by Marshak or Pasternak. Firstly, the same sonnet sounds differently for each of these poets - this is the clearest example of an individual interpretation of a literary text, and secondly, some researchers note that Russian translations are much more figurative than English originals due to the lexical features of the language, which again allows you to note the role of interpretation in the perception of the text.
Conclusion
Interpretation of text,as it has already become clear, it is far from such a simple thing as it seems at first glance. There are a huge number of different nuances, each of which can play a huge role in understanding the text. Another good example of interpretation can be the adaptation of a text for readers of different levels: for example, some literary works are deliberately simplified, making them accessible to the understanding of children, for example, younger children, for whom the abundance of means of artistic expression can become a serious barrier to understanding.
Underestimating the importance of text interpretation is a real crime. Each person should be aware that only a correct “translation” will allow him to enter into successful relations with society, cope with educational and professional difficulties, and, in principle, solve a number of problems that arise in our daily life. It should be noted that the concept of interpretation given at the beginning of this article can be extended not only to written texts, literary works, for example, but also to daily communication between people. Nothing changes from this: the interpretation of words, a full understanding of their meanings gives a person the opportunity to develop comprehensively, showing the maximum of his creative abilities, on which the interpretation of this or that phenomenon depends.
