Essay Example on Interpreting Literary Text: 5 Reasons Why It's Difficult

Introduction

Attaching meaning to a problem in a literary text is crucial and significantly determines the intent of the author and the message he or she is communicating to the audience. The problem of interpretation of a literary text has its basis mainly on five reasons. Firstly, the complexity of language used in literature, in terms of the structuring of words and sentences, poses a challenge to readers. Use of difficult vocabularies may pose difficulties in the comprehension of the text by the readers, especially those that have low cognition capabilities (11, p.8). Such readers focus on processing and understanding the problematic individual words such that they have not time to pay attention to creating substantial scale comprehension and critical interpretation of the entire text. The impact is mainly felt by readers who read literary texts written in their second language. Resultantly, they lose interest in reading due to the failure of appreciating the literature and their low level of understanding.

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Challenges in the Interpretation of Literary Texts

Secondly, literary texts that do not have a connection to the culture and experiences of the readers usually reduce their interest in reading hence resulting in wrong interpretation of such texts. Thirdly, lack of proper knowledge on the cultural background on which the text is written may highly result in challenges in the interpretation of texts. The reader may get the wrong impression of the literature if they lack the background knowledge about the setting of the writing. Fourthly, having texts that manifest deep meanings may result in people having multiple interpretations of the words and sentences (11, p. 8). Consequently, they fail to understand the exact meaning of the literary text due to the existence of several interpretations. Lastly, having a lengthy literary text may result in the readers losing interest and fail to complete reading hence making incorrect interpretations.

The Role of Language Status and Cultural Background in Interpretation

The status of language in a society is vital in determining the comprehension level of literal text for readers. The status of language in a society is wholly dependent on the frequency of its usage as a means of communication and its degree of dominance in the work surroundings and education. For an individual to participate in literary studies, they must have adequate reading capabilities. Some of these capabilities could include working out the meanings of words and word recognition; which are cognitive functions (12, p. 268). Readers of a literary text must possess the literary competence required in interpreting, understanding and critiquing literary works. However, the problem of interpretation arises when individuals fail to comprehend the language the text is written mainly due to the level of status attached to it. The core challenge arises if the language of the written text is not the first language of the reader. It follows the fact that learning to read takes place once, usually when the individual is learning their first language. Thus, people extend generally the same literacy when reading in a second language.

However, the reading techniques employed in one language differ from those of another language due to the variation of their social construction (18, p. 62). Besides, the meanings attached to one word may differ from one community to the other. In such a situation, the language may impose a contradiction to the readers resulting in the wrong interpretation of the literary text under study. Thus, when trying to comprehend a literary text that is written in a second language will have to adopt distinct reading techniques that are relevant for that language. The implication is that they will have to learn the reading skills of the second language to ease their understanding of the intention of the author in composing the literary text.

The Influence of Second Language Reading on Interpretation

Another challenge experienced by readers when interpreting the literary text is the complex nature of the second language since learning it is cross-linguistic. Learning a second language may take place in the childhood and adulthood of an individual. However, it is recommended that children be taught the second language during their cognitive stage as it eases the rate of comprehension (11, p. 9). Therefore, when a reader purposes of interpreting a literary text that is not written in their first language, they have to modify their reading strategies to ensure they take into account the demands brought forth by each language.

The problem of the interpretation of literary texts results from the distinction between first and second language reading. Besides, the literary competence of an individual is also dependent on their cognitive abilities as people with exceptional cognition capabilities tend to understand issues faster than their low cognition counterparts.

The Significance of Cultural Knowledge in Interpretation

Furthermore, literature incorporates cultural aspects such as attitudes and values as well as the perspectives of the functions and methods of literary study. The main challenge of understanding texts that have elements of cultural significance and view results from the difficult concepts and complex language used in writing. Also, most teachers assume that students are competent readers irrespective of where they come from and the sociocultural factors that affect them. However, most students have little or no knowledge about literature as a cultural phenomenon (6, p. 128). Most of them do not understand the significance of knowing the cultural notion in literary texts and the role it plays in enabling them to comprehend the writings after reading.

Most readers tend to appreciate texts that highlight their experiences and culture as they are easy to comprehend and interpret. Very few people embrace reading writings that deal with issues that affect human beings at a universal level. Besides, according to a study conducted in South Africa, the complexity of language used in Macbeth, for instance, requires that students seek assistance if a teacher for proper interpretation and comprehension (11, p. 10). A large proportion of the students interviewed argued that the text had minimal relevance to their experiences and culture, which contributed to their minimal understanding of its content.

Therefore, learners need to be made aware of their culture and cross-cultural communication of the literary texts to enhance their understanding hence their proper interpretation of the content. Educators of literature should undertake the initiative of introducing the cultural, political, socioeconomic and historical setting of writing to the students to enable them to contextualize and appreciate the content. Ideation about the text increases the level of understanding and improves the meaning attached to the reading. More so, contextualization of the literary text is fundamental in that it enables readers to be incorporated in the cultural schemata of the author (6, p. 129). However, there is a high likelihood of readers over-relying on the teachers to intervene in a reading before they embrace and appreciate it. In the long run, such writings lose their artistic nature, and the readers will not employ originality of thought when reacting to literary works. They will depend on the thoughts of their teachers to come up with interpretations that are perceived as acceptable.

The Importance of Language and Cultural Context in Reader Involvement

Additionally, understanding the language in which the literature is written is crucial in enhancing the personal involvement of the reader. Such participation is brought forth when the reader tries to pursue the development of the story by participating imaginatively in the literature from the mechanical to the analytical element of the language system (6. p. 270). Also, understanding the cultural background is essential in enhancing proper interpretation of literary texts. When reading a text written in the second language, an individual should employ specific strategies that will augment their ability to comprehend the text and make the correct interpretations. For instance, one may apply syntactic information when determining the meaning of the text, identifying words as well as the use of working memory.

Sociological Method in Literary Studies

The sociological method in literary studies emphasizes on creating a connection between the literary work and the social structure in which it is constructed. The implication here is that there exists a reciprocal relationship between literary texts and the social structure as the creation of the former is wholly dependent on the existence of the latter. The social, economic and political forces within a specified period significantly affect the literature produced within that particular period. Also, the attitudes, religion and morals observed by the society in which the literature was created may be evident in the text. The connection between literature and life of people in a given society is vital in shaping the conduct of its inhabitants as well as guiding their actions in the various facets of the world.

Sociology entails the study of human society. It focuses on understanding how the society operates by studying the social processes and institutions, social interactions and actions and the system and structure of the society. According to 3 (p. 52), in the pursuit of studying society, sociology derives its subject matter from various sources where literature is one of them. Literature is a social product and thus gives a reflection of human society based on human interactions and relations. Therefore, literature has the same mandate as sociology, which is providing a critical analysis of the life of human beings which implies that it reflects and regulates society. Albeit, sociology focuses on studying literary facts and their effect on social interactions and relations. For this reason, some sociologists have upheld the notion that literature is an institution and sociology is the study and examination of this institution. Thus, sociology of literature is a distinct branch of the discipline of sociology that studies the human society with the intent of comprehending it and the structural forces that affect the society.

Therefore, literature has its concern on understanding the social world of humanity, just like sociology, how he relates to it, and his willingness to transform it. Every aspect of literature revolves around the aspect of man and the society in which he lives. Thus, literature is the representation or expression of the lives of human beings by the use of language as the medium. Besides, the nature of literature could be well comprehended via the specific usage of connotative or literary language (5, p. 659). Thus, readers have to take into account the fact that language is a social creation used as the medium of literature, and the latter is a social institution. It represents life as a social reality.

Additionally, both sociology and literature are deeply rooted and conditioned by leading social institutions. For this reason, transformations in the nature and content of literary texts are usually brought about by societal changes. On the other hand, the transformations in society result from the wave of the newly developed ideas offered by literary works. Therefore, the core mandate of sociology methods in the study of literature is to examine this relationship between the two disciplines. However, being a social phenomenon, literature varies from one society to another due to the distinct norms of conduct adopted by a society. Yet, social forces and institutions have a direct impact on literary texts (6, p. 127). Besides, literary texts are usually objects of sociological study. Thus, teachers must aid the students in comprehending this rather than allowing them to just focus on the traditional approach of character, plot, and theme.

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