Poetics vs. Hermeneutics Essay

Poetics and Hermeneutics both play key roles in the making and reading of a text. Poetics, as we understand it, is the language of a text, HOW it means what it means. Hermeneutics on the other hand, is what the text actual means, rather than how it creates meaning. May of the texts we have read this semester could serve as excellent examples of both of these aspects of literature, however Girl stands out to me most.


Girl has a very interesting format, one unlike most other pieces of literature, which is why it stands out to me above other texts we have read. This structure is a collaboration of statements sewn together like a quilt. As readers we aren't sure in what order these statements were made, we aren't positive they were made by one specific person, we aren't even completely positive they were made to one specific person, although that has been the assumption thus far. This must mean that the structure is more important than the story itself, and that the structure gives us meaning (poetics), right? Maybe. Perhaps it is just that the structure highlights the literature itself, and that the literature is what holds the meaning within its words (hermeneutics).


To start, I will argue that the structure of Girl is what gives the text it's meaning. The first major point I would like to make is that without this particular structure, the piece wouldn't be nearly as interesting to read and so would not be as effective in sending the message it intends to send. The structure is what gives the text a sense of urgency, or maybe even of the lack thereof. It doesn't seem as if there's an argument being made by the text, but it does present the reader with a lot of data that could be used for an argument if the reader intended to make one. However, I do not see that poetics is the tactic used in this particular piece.


The tactic that makes the most sense to me is the hermeneutic tactic. This does seem rather cliché, I know. Text upon text upon text uses this tactic to get it's argument across, probably because it is the easiest to understand and so the more efficient and effective tactic to use if you really are trying to make a point as an author. The interesting thing about Girl is that without the poetic approach used in this story, the hermeneutics wouldn't be nearly as effective. If this story was written any other way, readers wouldn't be faced with the heaviness this narrator (if there is a precise narrator) feels weighing her down.


Poetics and Hermeneutics work best when they are used side-by-side in literary analysis of pieces. If both tactics are used, it is more likely that the reader will come away with a more accurate understanding of the text in question. It would be hard, in my juvenile opinion, to accurately read a piece using only one of these two approaches to literature.