A DECONSTRUCTIVE COMPARISON OF THE ANACHRONISM IN THE HERMENEUTICS OF GADAMER AND HIRSCH WITH A REFERENCE TO “KING OEDIPUS” AND “HAMLET”

Literary criticism has undergone a long journey with the discussion of authorial meaning and intention, regarding the historical period in which the literary text has been produced and interpreted. Hans-Georg Gadamer and Eric Donald Hirsch Jr. stand out as two canonical names that have lead intense discussions on the problem of historicity and anachronism, and have contributed to the science of interpretation—hermeneutics—in ways contrasting with each other. This comparative essay rests on their major works—Validity in Interpretation, by Hirsch, and Truth and Method, by Gadamer. It looks through the lenses of Deconstruction, however, as it attempts to apply their hermeneutics in literature. This analysis is limited to the primary works of Gadamer and Hirsch because it mainly seeks to contrast their positioning on the basis of historicity, by making succinct references to two masterpieces in literature—Sophocles' play King Oedipus and W. Shakespeare's Hamlet. It intends to demonstrate how Deconstructionist criticism, particularly through the ideas of Barthes and Derrida, creates a theoretical and philosophical ground for the discussion of literature in general and for anachronistic reading in literary texts.

GADAMER VE HİRSCH'ÜN YORUMBİLİM FELSEFESİNDEKİ ANAKRONİZMİN “KRAL OEDİPUS” VE “HAMLET”E ATFEN YAPISÖKÜMCÜ BİR KARŞILAŞTIRMASI

Edebiyat eleştirisi, bir edebi metinde yazarın kurguladığı anlamı ve niyeti metnin kaleme alındığı ve yorumlandığı tarihsel dönemi de göz önünde bulundurup sorgulayarak uzun bir yolculuk yapmıştır. Hans-Georg Gadamer ve Eric Donald Hirsch Jr., tarihsellik sorunu ve anakronizm üzerine yoğun tartışmalara öncülük eden ve Yorumbilim'e, (hermeneutics) birbirlerine zıt biçimlerde katkıda bulunan iki geleneksel isim olarak öne çıkmaktadır. Bu karşılaştırmalı çalışma, Hirsch'ün Yorumda Geçerlilik (Validity in Interpretation) ve Gadamer'ın Hakikat ve Yöntem (Truth and Method) adlı başyapıtlarına dayanmaktadır. Bu çalışma aynı zamanda Yapısökümcü eleştirinin merceğinden bakarak, Yorumbilim'i edebi eserlere uygulamayı hedeemektedir. Bu analiz, Gadamer ve Hirsch'ün birincil eserleriyle sınırlıdır çünkü edebiyattaki iki şahesere—Sofokles'in oyunu Kral Oedipus ve William Shakespeare'in oyunu Hamlet'e kısa atıarda bulunarak, Gadamer ve Hirsch'ün konumlarını sadece tarihsellik kavramı temelinde karşılaştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmanın bir başka amacı da Yapısökümcü eleştirinin, özellikle de Barthes ve Derrida'nın kirlerinin, genel olarak edebiyat tartışması yürütmek ve edebi metinlerde anakronik okuma yapmak için nasıl bir teorik ve felse zemin yarattığını göstermektir.

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