Multi-dimensional Interpretation Of Paul Ricoeur's Text Theory

French hermeneutist Paul Ricoeur's philosophy thought is very rich,and his study involves a wide range of content.The studies abroad and at home on Ricoeur's thought mainly concentrate on the philosophical level,while studies from the perspective of literary theory are fewer.But the rich connotation and meaning of Ricoeur's hermeneutic thought provides a deeper research space for the study of literary theory.In constant reflection,Ricoeur reconciled the conflict among theories and pushed the discussion of understanding from the epistemological level to the ontological level.In fact,Ricoeur's interpretation of symbol,myth,psychoanalysis,metaphor and narrative eventually points to the text.This thesis explores Ricoeur's text theory from the three dimensions of metaphor,symbol and narrative and verifies the validity and operability of his theory in the analysis of literary works.The main body of this thesis consists of three chapters.Chapter 1 probes the metaphor that makes the text have tension and vitality.First of all,metaphor and the text have internal identity.The common basis of the two is discourse,and both involve issues of interpretation and understanding.What is more important is that both are the re-description of the world and refer to the possible world of the text.At the same time,the scalability of metaphorical structure also gives the text tension,and the tension of the text is between “yes” and “no”.Moreover,metaphor discourse in the continuous interpretation creates new meanings,which gives the vitality of the text.Chapter 2 discusses symbol,which enriches the meaning of the text.Symbols are divided into myth,dream and symbol in poetry.Symbol in myth has its original characteristics.It brings rich intentions to the text.The symbol of dream points to psychoanalysis,which is called desire semantics by Ricoeur.It refers to the underlying meaning of the text.The analysis of the underlying connotation enriches the understanding of the text.The symbol in poems not only enriches the meaning of the text,but also provides rich possibility for the interpretation of the text.More importantly,symbol leads to thought.Chapter 3 demonstrates the narrative that embodies the ductility of the text.Narrative depends on time,and Ricoeur states that past,present and future exist in people's mind.Time is the time experience for people,and the text is a place for the transmission of time experience.Therefore,the temporality of narrative is extended because of the text.Plot shows the imitation of action.The threefold mimesis corresponds to the configuration of the text.The threefold mimesis extends in the movement of thinking,pointing to the re-understanding of narrative,which is also the re-understanding of the text.Therefore,text is not closed,but points to the possible world of the text.By analyzing Ricoeur's text theory from the three dimensions of metaphor,symbol and narrative,on the one hand,this thesis expands the connotations of metaphors,symbols,and narratives,which refers to the more extensive text;on the other hand,Ricoeur's detour exploration of epistemology confirms the ontological position of the text and points to the ontological dimension of the world of the text.Text is no longer merely a product to be read and understood.Text is a re-description of the world,which refers to the possible world of the text.When the world of the reader meets the world of the text,people gain new knowledge and re-understand themselves in this possible world of the text.Ricoeur's text theory establishes a direct connection between literary text analysis and human self-understanding.It also highlights the irreplaceable ontological significance of language and the text in people's understanding of existence.