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Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics: Exploring Possibilities within the

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 Volume 7, No. 3, Art. 19 – May 2006

Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:

Exploring Possibilities Within the Art of Interpretation

Elizabeth Anne Kinsella

Abstract: Hermeneutics has much to offer those Key words: hermeneutics, critical hermeneutics,
interested in qualitative inquiry, and is especially interpretation
suitable for work of a textual and interpretive
nature, yet writings in hermeneutics are frequently 1. Hermeneutics: The Art of Interpretation
viewed as dense and impenetrable, particularly to 2. Characteristics of a Hermeneutic Approach
North American audiences and those unfamiliar
with the Continental Philosophical tradition. Draw- 2.1 Seeks understanding
ing on Hans Georg GADAMER, as well as other 2.2 Situated location of interpretation
hermeneutic thinkers, an introductory overview of 2.3 The role of language and history
five characteristics of a hermeneutic approach is
2.4 Inquiry as conversation
offered in this paper. Further, it is suggested that
hermeneutics can fruitfully be partnered with a 2.5 Comfortable with ambiguity
critical approach. In this regard, a critical attitude 3. A Critical Dimension
and a metaxological approach are explored and a 3.1 The critical potential of hermeneutics
conceptualization of critical hermeneutics is pro-
posed. It is suggested that hermeneutics and criti- 3.2 A metaxological approach: Between
cal hermeneutics implicitly underpin qualitative in- dualities
quiry, both of which emphasize the interpretive act 4. Conclusion
of understanding, and a dialogue on this subject is References
invited.
Author
Citation

FERRARIS (1996) defines hermeneutics as "the art of interpretation as transformation" and

contrasts it with a view of theory as "contemplation of eternal essences unalterable by their
observer" (p.1). In these post-positivistic times, the need to make explicit the art of inter-
pretation, and the transformative possibilities within, has never been more urgent. This paper
suggests that hermeneutic thought has much to offer those interested in qualitative inquiry
and, as SCHWANDT (2001) points out, serves as a major source of ideas for qualitative in-
quiry. Most research is informed by philosophical underpinnings that originate in unacknowl-
edged and implicit philosophical traditions. I suggest that qualitative research is by its very
nature informed by hermeneutic thought, although this link is not often made explicit in qual-
itative research writing. On a broad level, greater attention to the tradition of hermeneutic
scholarship can enrich, substantiate and make explicit assumptions about interpretation and
understanding that are central to qualitative research. Given that the emphasis in qualitative
research is on understanding and interpretation as opposed to explanation and verification, and
that the parallel emphasis is evident in hermeneutic thought, where for instance GADAMER
(1996) demonstrates that understanding (verstehen) is the universal link in all interpretation of
any kind, the connection between qualitative research and hermeneutic thought becomes self-
evident. [1]
Attending to the writing of hermeneutic philosophy, in combination with those who work in crit-
ical traditions, can therefore potentially enrich the explication of underpinnings and the ration-
ale for adopting a qualitative approach to research. [2]

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Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research (ISSN 1438-5627)
 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
Exploring Possibilities Within the Art of Interpretation

In this paper, a basic introduction to five characteristics of a hermeneutic approach is offered,

and it is suggested that hermeneutic thought is a largely unacknowledged underpinning of
interpretive qualitative research. Furthermore it is suggested that the critical potential of her-
meneutics could more fruitfully be employed in the human sciences. This paper illuminates a
conception of critical hermeneutics that may inform critical/interpretive postures within the
qualitative tradition. [3]

1. Hermeneutics: The Art of Interpretation

The scholarship and practice of hermeneutics has a long history (FERRARIS, 1996). Originally
an approach used for the interpretation of ancient and biblical texts, hermeneutics has over
time been applied to the human sciences more generally (DILTHEY, 1910), and is now seen
by many to cover all interpretive acts in the human human sciences (RORTY, 1991). Indeed,
the leitmotif of hermeneutics is the irremedially mediated processes of human understanding
and interpretation (SANDYWELL, 1996). With respect to the universality of hermeneutics,
RORTY describes his fantasy "that the very idea of hermeneutics should disappear, in the way
in which old general ideas do disappear when they lose polemical and contrastive force—
when they begin to have universal applicability" (p.71). RORTY’s ideal of universal applicability
may be closer to fruition in European contexts than in North American ones. While herme-
neutics has a long history and influence in Europe and particularly German language contexts,
the influence in North America has generally been more limited. WEINSHEIMER (1985) notes
that the influence of hermeneutics is smaller than it could and rightly should be. In particular,
he points to GADAMER's Truth and Method as a book about hermeneutic philosophy with an
unrecognized significance that reaches far beyond the discipline of philosophy. Indeed, in
North America, this lack has been identified in fields such as education; for example,
GALLAGHER (1992) notes that hermeneutics has not been widely discussed or adopted in the
field of education. This is contrasted with European contexts where hermeneutics has had a
more important and prominent role in methodological debates in the social sciences, and
within the educational traditions. [4]
Yet as RORTY and SANDYWELL suggest, hermeneutics reveals the mediated processes of
all human understanding; qualitative research is concerned with the same project. Further-
more, hermeneutics questions the limitations of positivist approaches to research, GADAMER
(1990a) writes "And yet, over against the whole of our civilization that is founded on modern
science, we must ask repeatedly if something has not been omitted …" (p.153). This "omitted"
something, is what both the project of hermeneutic thought and the project of qualitative
research set their attention toward. It follows that hermeneutics may offer an implicit con-
ceptual underpinning to research in the qualitative tradition, and that understanding herme-
neutics and critical hermeneutics can potentially enrich and deepen the conceptual founda-
tions of research undertaken from a qualitative perspective. [5]

2. Characteristics of a Hermeneutic Approach

Hermeneutics is sometimes criticized for its conceptually elusive nature, but it is important to
note, as GADAMER (1992) does, that "hermeneutics is a protection against abuse of method,
not against methodicalness in general" (p.70). Given the conceptually elusive nature of herme-
neutics, there are few introductory overviews that invite the novice into a dialogue about this
subject. While not an exhaustive discussion of hermeneutic philosophy, this paper invites the
reader to consider five characteristics of a hermeneutic approach. This overview highlights
introductory ideas, illuminating that a hermeneutic approach (a) seeks understanding rather
than explanation; (b) acknowledges the situated location of interpretation; (c) recognizes the
role of language and historicity in interpretation; (d) views inquiry as conversation; and (e) is
comfortable with ambiguity. These descriptions are followed by a discussion of the critical
potential of a hermeneutic approach. [6]

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2.1 Seeks understanding

The goal of a hermeneutic approach is to seek understanding, rather than to offer explanation
or to provide an authoritative reading or conceptual analysis of a text. [7]
As JARDINE (1992) states:
"Hermeneutic inquiry has as its goal to educe understanding, to bring forth the presupposi-
tions in which we already live. Its task, therefore, is not to methodically achieve a relation-
ship to some matter and to secure understanding in such a method. Rather, its task is to
recollect the contours and textures of the life we are already living, a life that is not secured
by the methods we can wield to render such a life our object" (p.116). [8]
According to GADAMER (1996), the task of hermeneutics is not to develop a procedure of
understanding, but rather to clarify the interpretive conditions in which understanding takes
place. GADAMER suggests that understanding is reached within a fusion of horizons. Impor-
tantly, the conditions under which a fusion of horizons takes place include attention to the
prejudices individuals bring to the interpretive event, these are beyond what we are able to
see, however they constitute the horizon of a particular present:
"The horizon of the present is continually in the process of being formed because we are
continually having to test all our prejudices. An important part of this testing occurs in
encountering the past and in understanding the tradition from which we come. Hence the
horizon of the present cannot be formed without the past" (GADAMER, 1996, p.306). [9]
For GADAMER (1996) "Part of real understanding is that we regain the concepts of a historical
past in such a way that they also include our own comprehension of them" (p.374). But at the
same time, we must go beyond this historical past. For the process of understanding to take
place a fusion of horizons needs to occur such that "as the historical horizon is projected, it is
simultaneously superseded" (GADAMER, 1996, p.307). [10]
Furthermore, GADAMER conceives of understanding as "assimilating what is said to the point
that it becomes one's own" (p.398). He writes:
"One intends to understand the text itself. But this means that the interpreter's own thoughts
too have gone into re-awakening the texts' meaning. In this the interpreter's own horizon is
decisive, yet not as a personal standpoint that he maintains or enforces, but more as an
opinion and a possibility that one brings into play and puts at risk, and that helps one truly to
make one's own what the text says" (GADAMER, 1996, p.388). [11]
Indeed, one’s own horizon is constantly in the process of formation (WEINSHEIMER, 1985).
When a fusion of horizon occurs, "there is a birth and growth of something reducible to neither
the interpreter, nor the text, nor their conjunction" (WEINSHEIMER, 1985, p.251). Our own
horizon does not remain static. Rather the text (in the broadest sense) merges with the inter-
preter’s own questions in the dialectical play, which constitutes the fusion of horizons (WEINS-
HEIMER, 1985). [12]
BONTEKOE (1996) acknowledges the integrative nature of hermeneutic understanding,
pointing out that understanding occurs only when the interpreter recognizes the significance of
the various items that she or he notices, and recognizes the way in which those items relate to
each other. [13]
RORTY (1991) conceives of changes in understanding as the reweaving of human beliefs and
desires—of sentential attitudes within human minds. Such webs continually reweave them-
selves in order to accommodate new sentential attitudes (p.59). He links changes in under-
standing to action, noting that the web of belief should be regarded not just as a self-
reweaving but as one that produces movements in the organism's muscles—movements that
kick the organism itself into action. [14]
Central to hermeneutic understanding is the notion of the hermeneutic circle. The hermeneutic
circle traditionally signified a methodological process or condition of understanding, namely
that coming to understand the meaning of the whole of a text and coming to understand its
parts were always interdependent activities (SCHWANDT, 2001). In this regard, "construing
the meaning of the whole meant making sense of the parts and grasping the meaning of the

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 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
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parts depended on having some sense of the whole" (SCHWANDT, 2001, p.112). BONTE-
KOE (1996) describes the traditional hermeneutic circle as follows:
"The circle has what might be called two poles—on the one hand, the object of com-
prehension understood as a whole, and, on the other, the various parts of which the object
of comprehension is composed" (p.3).
"The object of comprehension, taken as a whole, is understood in terms of its parts, and …
this understanding involves the recognition of how these parts are integrated into the whole"
(p.3). [15]
The parts, once integrated, define the whole. Each part is what it is by virtue of its location and
function with respect to the whole. In a process of contextualization, each of the parts is
illuminated, which clarifies the whole. The two poles of the hermeneutic circle are therefore
bound together in a relationship of mutual clarification (BONTEKOE, 1996). [16]
For HEIDEGGER and GADAMER the circularity of interpretation is not simply a methodo-
logical process or condition but also an essential feature of all knowledge and understanding,
therefore every interpretation relies on other interpretations (SCHWANDT, 2001). Interpre-
tation is seen as an inescapable feature of all human efforts to understand; "there is no special
evidence, method, experience or meaning that is independent of interpretation or more basic
to it such that one can escape the hermeneutic circle" (SCHWANDT, 2001, p.113). GADAMER
(1996) notes that 19th century hermeneutic theory often discussed the circular structure of
understanding within the framework of a formal relation between part and whole. In this theory,
"the circular movement of understanding runs backward and forward along the text and ceases
when the text is perfectly understood" (p.293). In contrast he draws on HEIDEGGER who
describes the circle in such a way that "the understanding of the text remains permanently
determined by the anticipatory movement of fore-understanding" (p.293). In other words the
circle of whole and part is not dissolved in perfect understanding, but is most fully realized in
the interplay of the movement of tradition and the movement of the interpreter (GADAMER).
GADAMER (1996) writes:
"The interpretation of meaning that governs our understanding of a text is not an act of sub-
jectivity, but proceeds from the commonality that binds us to the tradition. But this
commonality is constantly being formed in our relation to tradition. Tradition is not simply a
permanent precondition; rather, we produce it ourselves inasmuch as we understand,
participate in the evolution of tradition, and hence determine it ourselves. Thus the circle of
understanding is not a methodological circle, but describes and element of the ontological
structure of understanding" (p.293). [17]
The hermeneutic circle is distinguished from the vicious circle in that it is constantly aug-
mented by new information, and the process of understanding is fuelled by this continuous
stream of information. This can be a messy process, but one that recognizes the complexity of
understanding: "Because information comes to us only serially … it must be incorporated
piecemeal into the synthetic vision which illuminates the meaning of the object of com-
prehension" (BONTEKOE, 1996, p.3). [18]
In her context as writer and activist, RICH (2001) comments on the evolving nature of under-
standing, highlighting how earlier levels can seem unthinkable in light of one's current insight:
"It's hard to look back to the limits of my understanding a year, five years ago—how did I look
without seeing, hear without listening? It can be difficult to be generous to earlier selves"
(p.75). [19]
Although the emphasis in hermeneutic understanding is on a synthesis of information, the
process always ends in something like a vicious circle. Once the interpreter is satisfied with
her or his understanding, or has lost interest in pursuing the issue any further, she or he relies
upon the level of understanding already achieved—he or she becomes, at least temporarily,
entrenched. In the vicious circle
"new instances are ignored in their originality; exhaustion or lack of interest inclines us to
see them as simply more of the same. Thus the process of comprehension can get started
again only when this difference from what has gone before is registered and we inquire into
the significance of the difference" (BONTEKOE, 1996, p.3). [20]

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 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
Exploring Possibilities Within the Art of Interpretation

Despite the inevitability of the vicious circle, GADAMER (as cited in WESTPHAL, 1997) notes
that although no fusion of horizons can be complete or permanent, there can be a mutuality of
understanding and agreement sufficient for cooperative life together. HOY (1991) cautions
that the hermeneutical claim of the context-bound character of understanding and inter-
pretation is not pernicious so long as interpreters remain open to differences between their
own understanding and that of others. He suggests that only the requirement of convergence
is oppressive because it obstructs the awareness of difference. As an example, my aim in this
paper is to attain a level of understanding sufficient for productive dialogue with others inter-
ested in this conversation. Yet, the possibility of a fusion of horizons sufficient for productive
dialogue does not presuppose "the convergence of every understanding with my own" (HOY,
p.156), but rather resists what HOY refers to as "the invidious consequences of this pre-
supposition" (p.156). [21]

2.2 Situated location of interpretation

Hermeneutics acknowledges that all interpretation is situated, located, a—view from some-
where—to play on NAGEL's (1986) critique of the "view from nowhere." GARDINER (1999)
eloquently summarizes the active role of the interpreter in critical hermeneutic interpretation:
"The hermeneutic approach stresses the creative interpretation of words and texts and the
active role played by the knower. The goal is not objective explanation or neutral
description, but rather a sympathetic engagement with the author of a text, utterance or
action and the wider socio-cultural context within which these phenomena occur" (p.63). [22]
Although not always referred to as hermeneutics, the situated nature of interpretation—and
the impossibility of finding one foundational God's eye view—is a growing theme in the con-
temporary literature. For instance, EISNER (1998) raises the uniqueness of each vantage
point as relevant, pointing out that how we interpret what we see bears our own signature. He
suggests that unique insight is not a liability but rather a way of bringing individual insight to a
situation. SMITH (1999) highlights the influence of social groups and practices, noting that all
inquiry begins from a particular social location, in which every knower is located: "she is active;
she is at work; she is connected up with particular people in various ways" (p.4). Such social
networks and practices, and the traditions they represent, also influence interpretive perspec-
tives and ways of constructing meaning. Drawing on GADAMER, educational philosopher
GREENE (1995b) notes that "once we accept the notion of vantage point, we become aware
that no one has a total vision from any place in the world" (p.18). Every individual's perspective
is always partial (HARAWAY, 1991), and objectivity as we have come to know it loses its
grasp. Indeed, within such a view, we are called to account, to the extent that we are able, for
the situated location of our subjectivity (HARDING, 1991). In this light, texts are considered
through the historically and culturally situated lens of the researcher’s perception and experi-
ence. A complete explication of such is impossible and all interpretations, although potentially
rigorous, are also necessarily partial. [23]

2.3 The role of language and history

Whereas I have discussed the situated nature of hermeneutic interpretation and the herme-
neutic notion of understanding, it is important to note further that hermeneutical thinkers argue
that language and history are always both conditions and limitations of understanding (e.g.,
see WACHTERHAUSER, 1986). As WACHTERHAUSER writes:
"Hermeneutical theories of understanding argue that all human understanding is never
'without words' and never 'outside of time'. On the contrary, what is distinctive about human
understanding is that it is always in terms of some evolving linguistic framework that has
been worked out over time in terms of some historically conditioned set of concerns and
practices" (p.6). [24]
This emphasis on historicity, and on the significance of language as a vehicle for interpretive
endeavors, are key dimensions of GADAMER's thought. GADAMER (1996) views an aware-
ness of historically informed prejudices as a basic condition of understanding:

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 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
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"A person who believes he is free of prejudices, relying on the objectivity of his procedures
and denying that he himself is conditioned by historical circumstances, experiences the
power of the prejudices that unconsciously dominate him … A person who does not admit
that he is dominated by prejudices will fail to see what manifests itself by their light" (p.360).
[25]
Recognition of the influence of prejudice, conditioned by historical circumstances on inter-
pretive stances, foregrounds the necessity of critical analysis of such prejudices. As GREENE
(1995b) points out, whoever we are, we engage the traditions made available to us against the
background of our lived lives and the prejudgments we have made over time. Recognizing the
influence of prejudgments and historical traditions on the manner in which we engage with the
world around us and on those "Others" that we encounter and the texts that we read, has
important implications for interpretive work. [26]
Furthermore, according to GADAMER (1996) "language is the universal medium in which
understanding occurs. Understanding occurs in interpreting" (p.389). He suggests that "in
order to be able to express a text's meaning and subject matter, we must translate it into our
own language" (p.396). GADAMER emphasizes verbal interpretation as the form of all inter-
pretation, even when what is being interpreted is not linguistic in nature. Thus, the role of
language, and prejudice conditioned by historical circumstances, in the interpretive analysis of
texts are recognized. [27]

2.4 Inquiry as conversation

GADAMER (1992) describes hermeneutics "as the skill to let things speak which come to us in
a fixed, petrified form, that of the text" (p.65). The interpreter has to modulate, use intonation.
He compares the interpretation of a text to the art of translation, pointing out that in both
instances if we as interpreter want to emphasize a feature that is important to us, then we can
do so only by playing down or entirely suppressing other features. "Translation like all inter-
pretation is a highlighting. A translator must understand that highlighting is part of his [or her]
task" (GADAMER, 1996, p.386). This of course presents a limitation within this and all inter-
pretive study, and brings to mind CIXOUS' (1997) insight that all narratives tell one story in
place of another story (p.178). [28]
GADAMER (1996) explains that in hermeneutic conversation, like in real conversation, the
partners need to find a common language:
"Finding a common language is not, any more than in real conversation, preparing a tool for
the purpose of reaching understanding but, rather, coincides with the very act of under-
standing and reaching agreement. Even between the partners of this conversation a com-
munication like that between two people takes place that is more than mere accom-
modation. The text brings a subject matter into language, but that it does so is ultimately the
achievement of the interpreter" (p.388). [29]
The assumptions of this notion of a hermeneutic conversation between texts are central to
hermeneutic study. The task is to find a common language through which the various texts
can be given a voice to participate in conversation and speak to one another. A second chal-
lenge is to acknowledge the role of the interpreter in a manner akin to a translator, as one who
highlights relevant features of the texts, who gives intonation to the texts involved in the
conversation. [30]
A dialogue is characterized by a polyphony of voices as opposed to a monologic voice
(BAKHTIN, 1981). Therefore, a range of voices may be adopted as one fosters a conversation
between various texts. This cacophony of voices can be disconcerting to the reader (not to
mention the inquirer!), however it is, I suggest, the price to be paid for entertaining a conversa-
tion between disparate texts, texts written in genres foreign to one another. I therefore suggest
that GADAMER’s notion of conversation be broadened in the direction of BAKHTIN’s notion of
dialogue, which more explicitly highlights the polyphony of voices that may be called into the
interpretive endeavor, through the interpreter’s engagement of various texts. [31]

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 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
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2.5 Comfortable with ambiguity

Hermeneutics embraces ambiguity. According to GADAMER (1992) hermeneutics "is en-

trusted with all that is unfamiliar and strikes us as significant" (p.70). Indeed, JARDINE (1992)
states that it is the task of hermeneutics to restore life to its original difficulty. A hermeneutic
view resists the idea that there can be one single authoritative reading of a text and recognizes
the complexity of the interpretive endeavor. For instance, GADAMER (1996) explains that in
textual analysis, from a hermeneutic perspective, the meaning of a text is not to be compared
with an immovably and obstinately fixed point of view (p.388). Rather "to understand a text
always means to apply it to ourselves and to know that, even if it must always be understood
in different ways, it is still the same text presenting itself to us in these different ways" (p.398).
There cannot be any single interpretation that is correct in itself, as the historical life of tradition
depends on being constantly assimilated and interpreted. In other words, GADAMER believes
an interpretation has to adapt to the hermeneutical situation in which it belongs. [32]
WEINSHEIMER (1985) notes that, in keeping with the spirit of hermeneutics, GADAMER's
work itself is not open to reductive analysis. Rather, his hermeneutic rigor resists neat anti-
thesis and neat reconciliations and precludes pat formulations. He points out that GADAMER
does not think in assertions, statements, and propositions that aim at unequivocal meanings in
logical sequence. Rather, he thinks in questions. Even his answers open onto an unsaid,
unasserted aura of meaning that can not be pinned down in univocal statements. [33]
Thus, a hermeneutic approach is open to the ambiguous nature of textual analysis, and resists
the urge to offer authoritative readings and neat reconciliations. Rather, it recognizes the
uniquely situated nature, historically and linguistically influenced, and the ambiguous nature of
interpretation, and offers such for readers to engage with, or not, as they wish. [34]

3. A Critical Dimension

In addition to the five characteristics of a hermeneutic approach outlined above, a critical

dimension that includes a metaxological approach offers one way to conceptualize a critical
hermeneutic approach to qualitative inquiry. [35]
Hans-Georg GADAMER has been the major thinker in hermeneutic philosophy. GADAMER
has ably represented his hermeneutic philosophy in famous debates, or what he conceives of
as conversations. In particular such conversations have occurred between GADAMER and
HABERMAS with respect to critical theoretical perspectives (see GADAMER, 1990b; HABER-
MAS, 1990a, 1990b) and between GADAMER and DERRIDA with respect to deconstructionist
perspectives (see DALLYMAYR, 1989; DERRIDA, 1989; GADAMER, 1989). Although an in-
depth analysis of these philosophical arguments is beyond the scope of this paper, it is worth
noting that whereas these philosophers engage in dialogue about differences, others work to
theorize the marriage of critical or deconstructive and hermeneutic perspectives (CAPUTO,
1987, 2000; KÖGLER, 1996; WALLACE, 2000). As this conversation continues, perhaps a
comfortable marriage between the differing theoretical positions will be found, but for now they
appear to make somewhat uneasy bedfellows. [36]

3.1 The critical potential of hermeneutics

Nonetheless, in addition to the productive insights of GADAMER, I propose to illuminate the

critical potential of hermeneutics. Such critical possibilities are highlighted by many who work
within the hermeneutic tradition or who seek to extend the boundaries of hermeneutics
(BAKHTIN, 1981; CAPUTO, 1987, 2000; DERRIDA, 1989; KEARNEY, 1988, 2003; KÖGLER,
1996; GARDINER, 1992; HABERMAS 1990a, 1990b; JARDINE, 1992; RICOEUR, 1981;
RORTY, 1991; VATTIMO, 1997; WALLACE, 2000). These theorists attempt to respond to
critiques, such as those posited by GARDINER (1992) that GADAMER's hermeneutics ignores
the crucial dimensions of power, and the specifically ideological deformation of language use.
For instance, CAPUTO (1987, 2000) depicts what he calls "radical hermeneutics" as a
merging of HEIDEGGERian hermeneutics and the deconstructionist work of DERRIDA. In

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 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
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response to critiques that such an approach is destructive or nihilistic, CAPUTO argues that
radical hermeneutics offers productive insights by "owning up to the fix we are in." While I
have not chosen to adopt CAPUTO's radical hermeneutic framework, his notion of "owning up
to the fix we are in"—what SPIVAK (1990) refers to as acknowledging our "vulnerability"—
speaks eloquently to the ends to which critical hermeneutic inquiry is directed. [37]
DELUCA (2000) has suggested that in "theoretical marriages" much as in human marriages,
both partners do not have to agree on all points; rather the marriage is enriched when each
brings a unique identity and differing opinions to the table. Likewise, the marriage between
critical perspectives and GADAMERian hermeneutics does not represent a synthesis on all
counts, but rather aims for respect and openness toward the perspective of the "Other" as well
as a willingness to suspend one's own position in order to achieve understanding. This does
not mean, as radical hermeneutics would have it, an irreducible difference and separation
between self and other. For, as BAKHTIN (1990) argues, we need to maintain difference, but
as GARDINER claims (1999) we need to do so in a manner that does not preclude a rich
intersubjective life. Nor does it mean, as some interpreters of GADAMER have suggested, that
every other understanding of the world is seen to converge with one's own (HOY, 1991). Fol-
lowing KEARNEY (2003), a middle space is proposed somewhere between the "congenial
communion of fused horizons" (romantic hermeneutics) and the "apocalyptic rupture of non-
communion" (radical hermeneutics). Such a position holds out the possibility of intercom-
munion between distinct but not incomparable selves (KEARNEY, 2003). In this way, insights
garnered from critical perspectives with respect to power, the potential misuse of language,
the recognition of distinct but potentially communicative selves, and an acknowledgment of
"the fix we are in" can inform hermeneutic inquiry. These are brought to bear through the "vig-
ilant subjectivity" (DELUCA, 2000) of the researcher, as they provide a backdrop to the inter-
pretive stance that one adopts. Vigilant subjectivity as outlined by DELUCA combines vigilance
toward the other (as opposed to self-absorption or isolationism) with the examination of the
subjectivity of the self. [38]
Furthermore, I suggest that if one follows GADAMER's line of argument through to its logical
conclusion, an implicit critical dimension is evident in his thought. Although GADAMER's
interest in tradition is sometimes branded as conservative, JARDINE's (1999) crucial insight
highlights that such an interest in tradition and ancestry does not require the repetition of
traditions. Rather, hermeneutics "incites the particularities and intimacies of our lives to call
these traditions to account, compelling them to bear witness to the lives we are living"
(JARDINE, p.2). As GADAMER (1976) contends in his own defense, hermeneutic reflection
"exercises a self-criticism of thinking consciousness, a criticism that translates all its own
abstractions and also the knowledge of the sciences back into the whole of human experience
of the world" (p.94). In this regard, by rendering the influence of tradition as explicit as one
can, hermeneutics raises consciousness about its influence on our interpretive positions as
individuals, and on the limits of what can be known, and reflects a critical dimension. [39]
As HOY (1991) highlights in his discussion of the possibilities of hermeneutics, "although we
start from a context, we can nevertheless transcend that context" (p.159). An example comes
to mind. For instance, individuals may grow up in a conservative Catholic family and bring the
history of this perspective to adulthood, but they also possesses the possibility of transcending
this history with respect to their choice of how to practice their faith in adulthood. They may
choose to adopt what has been handed down through tradition, they may choose a more
radical branch of the Catholic Church, they may choose another faith altogether, or they may
choose to reject faith. As individuals we begin from a context that cannot be denied. We
cannot escape our history; however, the possibility of transcending our context does exist. [40]
In this spirit of a critical hermeneutics, meaning a critical approach that extends one's insight
about the fix we are in, one can recognize that all interpretation and all communication take
place within what RICH (2001) calls a "tangle of oppressions." Criticism can be viewed in the
sense that EISNER (1998) talks about, as "an art of saying useful things about complex and
subtle objects and events so that others … can see and understand what they did not see and
understand before" (p.3). In general, according to EISNER, the aim of criticism is to "illuminate
a situation so that it can be seen or appreciated" (p.7). To achieve this aim one must use

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 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
Exploring Possibilities Within the Art of Interpretation

language to reveal what, paradoxically, words can never say, which means as EISNER points
out that the elusive quality of voice must be heard in the text. [41]
Indeed, SCHOTT (1991) argues that a hermeneutic philosophy of interpretation must take on
an overtly critical position. SCHOTT recognizes that "groups whose discourses, histories, and
traditions have been marginalized need to struggle for the self-affirmation that is both a
condition and consequence of naming oneself as an interpreter" (p.209). This stance requires
a consciousness about who is absent from conversations, and a commitment to assist individ-
uals who are marginalized or subordinated to become active interpreters. In this way a critical
hermeneutic approach affords a space for repressed voices to speak out, and neglected texts
to get a reading (see KEARNEY, 1988). Although the situated nature of interpretation is re-
cognized, the possibility of engaging a self-critical thinking consciousness and of transcending
the insights of the present context, are always present. [42]

3.2 A metaxological approach: Between dualities

In addition to the critical attitude described above, a metaxological approach can inform a
critical hermeneutic approach to inquiry. A metaxological approach searches for a way be-
tween dualities; it is an intermediary course between simplistic polarities (KEARNEY, 2003,
p.187). According to KEARNEY, as interpreters we need to deconstruct "binary dualisms so as
to 'muddle through' with the help of a certain judicious mix of phronetic understanding, nar-
rative imagination and hermeneutic judgement" (p.187), if we are to overcome the dangers of
polarized thinking. [43]
This way between dualities is also a recurrent and longstanding theme in feminist epistemology
and philosophy. Many feminist perspectives seek to "resist dichotomous, dualistic, divisive
modes of thinking" and argue that such modes of thinking "impose unnecessarily artificial dis-
tinctions upon experience, and often draws unwarranted evaluative conclusions from them"
(CODE, MULLETT & OVERALL, 1988, p.6). As feminist philosopher SHERWIN (1988) points
out: "One of the dangers that feminists have pointed to within traditional methodologies is that
of accepting dichotomies. Dichotomous thinking forces ideas, persons, roles and disciplines
into rigid polarities. It reduces richness and complexity in the interest of logical neatness"
(p.25). [44]
Feminist philosophers argue that dichotomies such as abstract/concrete, reason/emotion, uni-
versal/particular, subjective/objective, knowledge/experience, theory/practice, and mind/body,
long taken to mark distinctions discoverable in the "real" world, are products of ways of
thinking that perpetuate dualistic thinking, and could well have been different (see CODE et
al., 1988, p.7). This call for an acknowledgment of dualities, and resistance to polarized posi-
tions informs a critical hermeneutic approach to inquiry. [45]
GREENE (1995a) notes a dialectical relation marks every human situation, both sides of which
are equally significant and cannot finally be resolved. MERLEAU-PONTY proposes the signifi-
cance of the dialectic, not in the Hegelian or Marxist sense of final synthesis, but in an open-
ended sense of dialogue between polarities (cited in GARDINER, 2000). It is in this sense of
an open-ended dialogue between polarities that the dialectic can be engaged in a critical her-
meneutic dialogue. An open ended dialectic is similar to a dialogue in that there "always
remains the possibility of a sudden shifting of polarities, surprising reversals and transfor-
mations, inexpressibly complicated crossovers, overlappings and imbrications—none of which
we can ever fully anticipate, or exert complete control over" (GARDINER, 2000, p.137). [46]

4. Conclusion

On a personal level, making a hermeneutic turn in my thinking felt like a KUHNian "con-
version" (KUHN, 1962). Following this turn, I could never revert to a non problematic view of
the interpretive world. If one acknowledges that: understanding is as important as explanation,
that interpretation is situated, that language and historicity inform interpretation, that inquiry
can be viewed as a conversation between scholars, and that ambiguity is inevitable—and one
seeks to integrate such understandings into one's approach to research, I suggest that in-

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 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
Exploring Possibilities Within the Art of Interpretation

evitably, one cannot help but recognize the necessity of qualitative research as a medium to
attend to these insights, and furthermore recognize hermeneutics as an implicit philosophical
underpinning for research in the qualitative tradition. [47]
In addition to five introductory characteristics of a hermeneutic approach outlined above, a
critical attitude and a metaxological approach that searches for a way between dualities, and
highlights a polyphony of voices, is proposed in the conceptualization of a critical hermeneutic
approach. I suggest that critical hermeneutics has many unexplored possibilities with respect
to the underpinnings of qualitative inquiry. In this paper I have proposed a conceptualization of
critical hermeneutics, and invite further dialogue on this subject by those interested in high-
lighting the critical and interpretive dimensions of qualitative inquiry and in making explicit its
philosophical underpinnings. [48]
The aim of this paper has been to draw attention to hermeneutics and the broad philosophical
underpinning this approach offers to much qualitative research. Furthermore the paper seeks
(1) to provide a basic introduction to hermeneutics, (2) to propose a conception of critical
hermeneutics, and (3) to invite a dialogue on the subject as it relates to qualitative inquiry. This
paper does not claim or intend to be a philosophical paper or an exhaustive investigation of
hermeneutics. Those interested in a more subtle, sustained and philosophical explication are
directed to writings in hermeneutic philosophy. Nonetheless, this paper raises for discussion
the hypothesis that qualitative inquiry in social and cultural contexts can be enriched through
more explicit linkages to the tradition of hermeneutics and through attention to a new
hermeneutics that adopts a critical attitude. [49]

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 FQS 7(3), Art. 19, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella: Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics:
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Author

Anne KINSELLA is an assistant professor in the Contact:

Faculty of Health Sciences at The University of
Elizabeth Anne Kinsella, PhD (Education)
Western Ontario. Her research interests are in
health professional education, reflective Assistant Professor
practice, ethics and aesthetics. She is a School of Occupational Therapy
qualitative researcher and a founding member Faculty of Health Sciences
of Western’s Qualitative Health Research University of Western Ontario
Network. The author gratefully acknowledges 1201 Western Road, Elborn College
support for this work from the Social Sciences London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 1H1
and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Phone: (519) 661-2111 X81396
E-mail: akinsell@uwo.ca

Citation

Please cite this article as follows (and include paragraph numbers if necessary):
Kinsella, Elizabeth Anne (2006, May). Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics: Exploring
Possibilities within the Art of Interpretation [47 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung
/ Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 7(3), Art. 19. Available at:
http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/3-06/06-3-19-e.htm [Date of Access: Month Day,
Year].

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