The Problem of Overinterpretation in Literary Studies

Abstract

The article’s main goal is to present how the notion of overinterpretation functions in contemporary literary studies. The author reconstructs principal epistemological positions in the dispute about ways of establishing literary meanings, showing that the understanding of interpretation tasks and aims of literary research depend on the choice of one of these positions. She notes that today’s notion of overinterpretation has several homonymic meanings, and further notes important difference between interpretation in literary studies and colloquial or artistic interpretations. She emphasizes their nonidentical functions and procedures. Fifteen types of overinterpretation in literary studies are indentified, along with their causes.