Historicity and the Hermeneutic Circle

N RECENT YEARS the theory of art, and in particular the theory of literature, has moved away from an earlier inclination, rooted perhaps in the philosophy of Dilthey, to regard our understanding of works of art as historically freefloating and freely reinterpretable from age to age. Instead, it has been more eager to insist with Hegel1 and the elder Schlegel2 that the phenomenon of art cannot be understood except by situating its works in their own times. This return to sanity need not be motivated here,3 but two issues do need to be settled if content with the restoration of the ancien regime is to endure

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