The hermeneutics of conversation: Silence, epiphany and the irreducibility of conversion

Abstract

The article focuses on the hermeneutics of conversation. Its aim is to demonstrate the nature of a hermeneutic conversation as triggering a true possibility of understanding. I propose to see silence, epiphany and conversion, with its irreducible character, as significant components of a hermeneutic conversation. Thus conceived conversation leads to an unveiling of the unknown and generates a genuine possibility of an encounter between the self and the Other. The encounter rests on two indispensable attributes: reciprocity and trust. A genuine conversation in the hermeneutic sense, propelled by these two constituents, exerts a cathartic, transformative and formative power. Not only does it lead to understanding in which the speaking partners are involved, but it entails a potent unearthing of the self, a discovery of one’s identity. This study is based on Hans-Georg Gadamer’s premise of the universal character of understanding. Gadamer’s hermeneutics regards understanding as the fundamental category of our being- in-the-world. The article illustrates the workings of the hermeneutic conversation with an analysis of J. Joyce’s “The Dead.”