Interpretation Theory, by French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, is an expansion of Ricoeur’s lectures originally titled “Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning,” given at TCU’s centennial celebration in 1973. The book is divided into four essays. Each essay brings the reader closer to the understanding of language as it is used in literature and philosophy. These essays include “Language as Discourse,” “Speaking and Writing,” “Metaphor and Symbol,” and “Explanation and Understanding.” In order, they deal with the questions “What is meant when somebody speaks? When somebody writes? When somebody means more than what s/he actually says? And finally, “What is it to understand a discourse when that discourse is a text or literary work?”
