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Introduction
15
icsorroleofart.Nowobsolete,NewCriticismembodiedmostviewsBud-
dhistphilosophyseesasunjustifiedorfutile,suchasthebeliefinthereal
existenceofatext,itsuorganicunity,”scholars’dualisticdesiretobeuob-
jective”oruscientific”atallcosts,andacravingforestablishinganorma-
tivesetofmistakeswhichcouldpreventaucorrect”receptionofimmanent,
autotelicuverbalicons”meaningtexts–allofwhichhavebeensubsequent-
lyabandoned.
Onthecontrary,Heidegger’sHermeneuticCirclesuggeststhateachun-
derstandingisprecededbypre-understanding,thereforereader’sprecon-
ceivedideasinevitablyshapetext’sreception,thusreadingisalwaysan
interpretation.Riceurconfirmsthatthereisnouniversalcanonforexege-
sis,onlyseparateandcontradictoryinterpretativetheories.Epistemology,
whichfromDescartestoHusserlwasacognitivemeta-narrationguarantee-
ingvalidityofknowledgebuiltonanassumptionthattherecanbeanun-
questionableandindependentframeworkforresearchresultinginobvious
results,wasreplacedbyhermeneutics,whichembracespolyphonyofcul-
tureprovingthatalltheoriesareresultsofdiscursivepractices.Insteadof
adequacyofreasonandbeing(adaequatioreietintellectus),subject’sper-
spectivegainedprominence,andtheworldbecamerelative.Temeaning
becameindivisiblefrominterpretation,andthereisnoabsolutemethod
leadingtoit.
Apartfromphenomenologyorformalism,theanti-positivistturnfound
itsfullestexpressioninstructuralism.Humanitiesweredividedfromnatu-
ralsciences,anddiscoveredaneedtoobjectifyitsmethodologyofresearch
deprivinginterpretationofhistoricalorsocialcontext,authors’psycheor
analogiestoothertheories.WithdeSaussureahopeemergedtoestablish
thestudyofliteratureasaustrict”(systematic,general,universalandobjec-
tive)science,onewhichdominatedthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury.Tere-
fore,structuralismrevitalizestherigidCartesiansubject-objectdualism,
andstipulatesthatliterarinessmustbewithintheobject,anuindepend-
entbeing”anditmustbemeticulouslydescribedaccordingtothescientif-
icstandards.Structuralistshopedtofindageneralpatternoranabstract
structureaccordingtowhichliterarinesswasproduced,solinguisticforms
gainedmoreprominencethantheircontent.Structuralistsincorporatese-
mioticsdegradingliteraturetothestatusofaspecificsignformation.Al-
thoughtheydiscoveredthateachelementofsignifyinglinecannotbepic-
turedseparatelyfromitsrelationstootherelementsofthewhole,thisdid
notyetleadtoabandoningtheconceptofanimmanenttext.Onlyincon-