cognitive structures. As a result, we can create translations of the New
Testament and do so in different languages and still hope to retain some
shared understanding of what was written two thousand years ago. A cognitive
approach thus helps us understand how shared meanings are possible even if
reading is a constructive process, and why even the most innovative of
readings tend to converge.
10.3 TEXT AS IMAGEThe third approach to textual interpretation considers the text independently
of its reader, author, and original setting. Text-oriented hermeneutical
methods emerged in literary theory and gained some currency in Biblical
Studies, as well. According to this hermeneutical position, the text as image
can be analyzed independently of the author and the history of transmission
behind it or the reader in front of it. Thus we can use literary criticism,
rhetorical analysis, or narratology to discover patterns and structures in the
text, irrespective of the intention of the original author(s). Unlike in the“text
as window”approach, texts can be important and meaningful without asking
or knowing about their original setting. Unlike advocates of the“text as
mirror” approach, the proponents of text-oriented interpretation suggest
that texts carry meaning and significance that does not depend on the reader.
To put it differently, if any text could mean anything, then all texts would be
the same, that is, blank slates that the reader could inscribe with any meaning.
Consequently, if all meaning comes from the reader the text does not carry any
information; if that were the case, we would probably not bother to transmit
ReaderTe x tCognitive model Cultural modelFigure 10.3.Using cognitive models to study cultures and individuals in front of
the text.
Hermeneutical Reflections 215