Hermeneutics as Reading and Translation in George Steiner

Abstract

The paper explores some central theses of George Steiner—the act of reading, translation as interpretation, and the raison d’être of art—in the context of what he calls the “post-word” world. It is evident that in contemporary society the “logocentric culture” has been eroded—that is to say, we have lost the confidence in the logos as a substantive reference for education and intellectual guidance. For Steiner the reader is an interpreter who must be a philologist; the book is an inexhaustible source of meaning, and the hermeneutical work is an arduous intellectual effort. Therefore, the instrumentalization of reading has provoked difficulties for the contemporary reader when he encounters texts that demand isolation, silence, meditation, and a responsible commitment to what has been read.