Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
BetweenTheoryandNarrative…
Barthesian“texts”byVonnegut,Barth,Eco,Borges,Somoza,and
Fowlesaregoodillustrationsofsuchinstances,astheyarepermeatedby
thepostmodernistqualitythatIhabHassancalls“self-reflexiveness.”3
Inallothercases,thehermeneuticcharacteroftheliterarydevice/
artefactinquestionwouldhavetorelateonlytothemostgeneral
theoreticalnotions:theprocessofuncovering/producingmeaning,or
thedescriptionoftheactofreadingitself.
Thatmasksandcamouflageoughtnottobeconsideredonthesame
levelasthecountlessotherliterarysymbolsispreciselyduetotheir
hermeneuticessence.AccordingtotheOxfordEnglishDictionary,to
concealmeansto“keepfromtheknowledgeorobservationofothers,
refrainfromdisclosingordivulging,keepcloseorsecret,”whilethe
natureofthemaskisto“hideorconcealfromviewbyinterposing
something.”4Thusconcealingormaskingasanaction,relatedobject,
facultyorpowermaysubsequentlybeparaphrasedashiding,covering,
obscuring;makingsecret,invisible,andindiscernible.Itistherefore
essentiallyanobjectofahermeneuticprocedure,hermeneutic,of
course,inthetraditionalsenseoftheterm,understoodas“bringing
whatisstrange,unfamiliar,andobscureinmeaningintosomething
meaningful,”5representinga“systemforfindingthe<hidden’meaning
ofthetext”6andstructurarilyreflectedinwhatRolandBarthesdescribes
asthecodeofenigmawhere“anenigmacanbedistinguished,suggested,
formulated,heldinsuspense,andfinallydisclosed.”7
Takingintoconsiderationthehermeneuticnatureofmaskingand
camouflage,letusdefinemorepreciselytheirpossiblerelevanceforthe
analysisofliterarytexts.Itwouldappearthattwokindsofapplications
oftheconceptarise.Thefirstwouldconsiderthenotionsinquestionas
elementsoftheplot,i.e.examinetheirroleinthenarrativestructureof
thetextandperceivethemasfunctionsinvolvedincharacterinteraction.
Thisperspectivewouldnotmarktheprivilegednatureofthosesymbols
atall–therewouldbenoreasontodistinguishthemonthebasis
oftheirinnatemeritfromanyotherartifactinthetext.Thesecond
approach,whichisofprimaryinterestforthepurposeofthisarticle,
wouldfocusonmaskingasbeingpartofthenarrative,yetatthesame
3IhabHassan,“POSTmodernISM:AParacriticalBibliography,”inFromModernism
toPostmodernism:AnAnthology,ed.LawrenceCahoone(Oxford:BlackwellPublishers,
1996),p.399.
4OxfordEnglishDictionary,2ndedn.(Oxford:OUP),CD-Romedition.
5JeanGrondin,SourcesofHermeneutics(Albany:SUNYPress,1995),p.29.
6Grondin,SourcesofHermeneutics,p.36.
7RolandBarthes,S/Z,trans.RichardMiller(London:JonathanCapeLtd.,1975),
p.18.
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