Page 21 - Critical and Cultural Theory

LANGUAGE AND INTERPRETATION
which the symbols are grasped and processed constitutes interpre-
tation. Just as no entity or idea has a meaning independently of
the symbols with which it is associated, so no symbol means inde-
pendently of someone or something capable of interpreting it. The
essays contained in Part I elucidate the relationship between
language and interpretation as the mechanisms through which
cultures produce and consume meanings. These meanings,
moreover, define our social identities (see Part II) and approaches
to knowledge (see Part III).

Chapter 1, 'Meaning', examines some of the ways in which the
relationship between language and reality has been assessed by a
representative cross-section of philosophers and linguists. Chapter
2, The Sign', focuses on the impact of structuralist and poststruc-
turalist theories on cultural and literary studies. In Chapter 3,
'Rhetoric', the interplay of language and interpretation is explored
in terms of the tension between literal and figurative modes of
signification. Chapter 4, 'Representation', concentrates on the idea
that reality is an effect of the media and techniques via which it is
symbolized. In Chapter 5, 'Reading', the focus is on the active role
played by readers - both as individuals and as communities - in
the production of a text's meanings. Chapter 6, Textuality', high-
lights the extended meaning of the term 'text' advocated by
contemporary critical and cultural theory.

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