Interpretation and the Implied Author: A Descriptive Project

Abstract

The utterance model is a popular basis for theories of interpretation in the contemporary analytic philosophy of literature. This model suggests that interpretation should be constrained by a work's identity-relevant factors in its context of production because a work, like an utterance, acquires its identity and content in part from its relations with that context. From a descriptive point of view, I argue that the implied author account of interpretation best describes critical practice following the current positions based on the utterance model. That is, people who interpret in accordance with these positions end up interpreting an implied author.