Gadamer's philosophy of interpretation: Creative dialogue among researchers of diverse professional and personal backgrounds

Location

1054

Format Type

Plenary

Format Type

Panel

Start Date

January 2019

End Date

January 2019

Abstract

Hans-Georg Gadamer’s (1976) primary focus was on the concept of understanding, which he posited could be achieved through four key philosophical constructs: prejudice, the hermeneutic circle, dialogue, and fusion of horizons (Koch, 1996; Matheson, 2009). The hermeneutic experience, according to Gadamer, takes place within a framework of multiple voices. This presentation will consist of a dialogue among three researchers of very diverse backgrounds (cultural, academic, professional) who collaborated on a research project about the experiences of adults whose fathers died prior to their birth. We attempted to expand the boundaries of the interpretative framework during the various stages of the textual analysis to incorporate our very different interpretive stances. It is the questions, says Gadamer (1981), that are of crucial importance, not the answers, which are only a resting place on the way. Since every interpretive endeavor is limited and raises questions that spur further investigations, we will describe the simultaneous entrances and exits in a number of interpretive circles: researchers-text, colleague-supervisor-student, interviewer-research participants. Different research partnership positionings, contracts, dialogues, and deadlocks that we experienced will be illustrated and conceptualized.

Keywords

Hermenuetics, qualitative analysis, textual interpretation, researcher diversity

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Breakout Session G

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Gadamer's philosophy of interpretation: Creative dialogue among researchers of diverse professional and personal backgrounds

1054

Hans-Georg Gadamer’s (1976) primary focus was on the concept of understanding, which he posited could be achieved through four key philosophical constructs: prejudice, the hermeneutic circle, dialogue, and fusion of horizons (Koch, 1996; Matheson, 2009). The hermeneutic experience, according to Gadamer, takes place within a framework of multiple voices. This presentation will consist of a dialogue among three researchers of very diverse backgrounds (cultural, academic, professional) who collaborated on a research project about the experiences of adults whose fathers died prior to their birth. We attempted to expand the boundaries of the interpretative framework during the various stages of the textual analysis to incorporate our very different interpretive stances. It is the questions, says Gadamer (1981), that are of crucial importance, not the answers, which are only a resting place on the way. Since every interpretive endeavor is limited and raises questions that spur further investigations, we will describe the simultaneous entrances and exits in a number of interpretive circles: researchers-text, colleague-supervisor-student, interviewer-research participants. Different research partnership positionings, contracts, dialogues, and deadlocks that we experienced will be illustrated and conceptualized.