My Dinner with Hans (Georg Gadamer)

I recently learned that The Rocky Mountain Medieval & Renaissance Association April 2019 conference accepted my paper proposal, imagining how the late Hans Georg Gadamer might rethink Shakespeare and the Bible. The Stanford 
Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes Gadamer as
 “the decisive figure in the 
development of twentieth-century hermeneutics” and “undoubtedly… one of the 
most important thinkers 
of the twentieth century.”

As a college student 40 years ago, I attended a dinner where Gadamer spoke. My professors had me sitting right next to him at the meal. I asked him his impression of the U.S. on his trip, and he said Americans were “very proud.” Pride is not always a good thing: it can impede understanding.

Gadamer stresses that scholarly writing about literature and the arts should not strive to follow scientific or empirical methods because the arts will always transcend what can be accounted for by the rigors of science. Yet many early efforts to catalog biblical allusions in Shakespeare made that mistake. Gadamer also notes that individual bias can be a source not only of blindness but also of insight. These ideas will inform my approach.

(Pictured: L: Gadamer;
R: Wallace Shawn, who acted in the 1981 film, “My Dinner with Andre,” shown here in “Princess Bride” meme.)

#Shakespeare #Gadamer #EarlyModern #literature #bible #hermeneutics #renaissance