We explain what interpretation is, the origin of the term and in what contexts it is used. Also, how different disciplines understand it.
What is interpretation?
The word interpretation can have multiple meanings, depending on the context in which we use it. However, they mostly have to do with the idea of explain, translate or clarify something, so that other people can understand it better or they can get an idea of what it represents.
Etymologically, the word interpret comes from latin I will interpreta word derived in turn from interpreterwhich was used for the mediator in a business or commercial transaction.
This word is composed of the prefix inter (“between”) and the noun premium (“price”), so its meaning is more or less “between prices”, like someone who negotiates or haggles until finally reaching an agreement. The latter is possibly what has survived to this day: for example, we call “interpreter” someone who intercedes (or “negotiates”) between two people who do not speak the same language, that is, a live translator.
Thus, we use the verb interpret for situations where there is a hidden, deep or secret meaning that needs to be clarifiedestablish or show itself, that is, it must be interpreted. For example, Egyptian hieroglyphs were interpreted by Egyptologists, who managed to establish the meaning of what was said, even though the ancient Egyptian language is lost. Those who interpret a poem or a work of art do the same: they assign an obvious meaning to what may be mysterious to the general public.
However, Interpretations generally say more about the interpreter than about what is interpreted.that is, they provide information about the interpretant's way of thinking.
That is what psychologists and psychoanalysts do with different tests such as the Rorschach: they expose the patient to a stimulus (an image, a sound or even a dream they have had) and ask them to do it. interpreterthat is, assigning a sense and meaning according to its history and perspectives. By doing so, the patient reveals information about his own mind, since the figures do not have a “true” meaning, but can reflect many things depending on the individual.
In fact, the father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) published various works on the interpretation of dreams, in which he proposed a method for using nocturnal imaginations to enter the patient's psyche and obtain scientific information about their dreams. emotional or affective ailments.
Something similar happens in the field of performing arts and music: We usually talk about “interpreters” or “interpreters” to refer to those who play the instruments or the actors who stage a work.. In the first case, the musician interprets in sounds what is written in his score, just as the actor interprets in actions what is written in the script.
Therefore, they are synonyms of interpret: translate, analyze, read, understand, explain and clarify; and on the contrary, they are antonyms of this verb: obscure, confuse and hide.
Continue with: Exegesis
References
- “Interpretation” on Wikipedia.
- “Interpretation (languages)” on Wikipedia.
- “Interpret” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Etymology of Interpret” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
