2016 | Special Lecture: Text Hermeneutics

2016　Special Lecture: Text Hermeneutics

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Academic unit or major: Humanities and social science courses

Instructor(s): Murai Hajime

Class Format: Lecture

Media-enhanced courses

Day/Period(Room No.): Tue7-8(W933) Fri7-8(S221)

Group: -

Course number: LAH.T310

Credits: 2

Academic year: 2016

Offered quarter: 1Q

Syllabus updated: 2017/1/11

Lecture notes updated: -

Language used: Japanese

Access Index

Syllabus

Course description and aims

The meanings of words written in documents are not always equivalent to one another. Students will glimpse a world of deep meanings based on connections with other texts, and issues with the reader's point of view, together with characteristics of the text itself such as historical backdrop, culture, language, and rhetorical devices. The instructor in this course will introduce by example various techniques for understanding textual meaning.

Student learning outcomes

Text analysis is not like solving an equation where you find a single answer. However, it's also not the case that anything goes. We want students to enjoy that subtle balance and depth.

Keywords

text, hermeneutics, semantics, translation, metaphor, rhetoric, narratology, pragmatics, intertextuality

Competencies that will be developed

Specialist skills

✔ Intercultural skills

✔ Communication skills

Critical thinking skills

Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

The instructor will lecture in the first half of each class, then at the end of class students will consider questions on the lecture content and write responses. Questions will generally be explained at the start of the following class.

Course schedule/Required learning

	Course schedule	Required learning
Class 1	What is text hermeneutics?	To learn about history and necessity of text hermeneutics
Class 2	Cipher and interpretation	To learn about problems and methods of interpretation of ciphers
Class 3	Establishment of text	To learn about analysis of formation process of text and its interpretation
Class 4	Words and semantics	To learn relationships between words and semantics
Class 5	Translation	To learn about problems between translation and interpretation
Class 6	Context in the text	To learn about interpretation of contextual information in the text
Class 7	Context outside the text	To learn about interpretation of contextual information outside the text
Class 8	Metaphor	To learn about metaphor and its interpretation
Class 9	Rhetoric 1	To learn about the rhetoric of expression
Class 10	Rhetoric	To learn about the rhetoric of structure and logic
Class 11	Pragmatics	To learn about pragmatics and interpretation of conversation
Class 12	Narratology	To learn about narratology and the structure of stories
Class 13	Fusion of horizons	To learn about philosophical backgrounds of interpretation
Class 14	Bibliometrics 1	To learn about methods for analyzing styles and words automatically
Class 15	Bibliometrics 2	To learn about methods for analyzing story structures and interpretation automatically

Textbook(s)

None required.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

The Bible
Akifumi Tokosumi, Hajime Murai, "Approaching to quality from quantity", Shinyo-sha (Japanese), ISBN-10: 478851396X

Assessment criteria and methods

Brief reports at the end of each class (50), and two reports (25 x 2) based on assignments which you can select from those of all the classes.

Related courses

LAH.T410 ： Transdisciplinary studies 10

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

Be sure to attend the first class as the number of students may be restricted.

TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY