Abstract
Studies in the humanities, history, literature and philosophy are based mainly on reading and professional work with text. For this reason, the present publication provides an elementary introduction to working with text and to interpretation.
It is intended primarily for beginning students of these studies, however also for grammar school teachers who prepare their students for university studies, and possibly for university teachers who introduce their students to the work with the text and principles of interpretation at the beginning of their studies. At the beginning of the publication, the issue of reading and interpretation is placed in the broader context of questions about the nature of knowledge and truth in human sciences.
The presentation of the issue of reading and interpretation is then based on the explanation of the basic problems that consist in reading and understanding texts. Only then are the most elementary principles of interpretation and propaedeutic recommendations for working with texts derived from them.
The theoretical background is primarily a comprehensive analysis of this issue in modern hermeneutics in H.-G. Gadamer.