CJVA2MHER Interpretation and Understanding: A Dive into Modern Hermeneutics

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Asynchronous teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lenka Hanovská, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PaedDr. Marta Holasová, Ph.D. (assistant)
Mgr. Anna Maryšková (assistant)
Ing. Daniela Svobodová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Lenka Hanovská, Ph.D.
Language Centre Faculty of Arts Division – Language Centre
Contact Person: Mgr. Anna Maryšková
Supplier department: Language Centre Faculty of Arts Division – Language Centre
Timetable
Thu 10:00–11:40 L42, except Mon 20. 4. to Fri 24. 4.
Prerequisites
( CJVA2B English II || CJVVsT Entrance test || CJVA1B English I. )&&((FAKULTA(FF)&&TYP_STUDIA(BMN)&&(FORMA(P))&&(!SEMESTR(1))||OBOR(MUSFF)))
This course is intended for full-time students (in their SECOND AND HIGHER semesters) with advanced English (B1+) knowledge. It is possible to enrol on the course after completing a diagnostic test and proving a minimum B1 command of English (course code: CJVVsT, https://is.muni.cz/auth/predmet/phil/jaro2024/CJVVsT).
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 3/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
Course objectives

Humanities students constantly encounter demanding readings—texts requiring patience, attention, and intellectual discipline. But can we still practise such discipline today, in an age dominated by images? Can we secure a good understanding, especially of texts from the past? And who decides whether our understanding is correct? Hermeneutics is the discipline devoted to exactly these questions. It examines the principles of accurate understanding enabled by careful interpretation. It explores how meaning is produced and perceived, and investigates the relationship between the interpreter and the text. Although hermeneutics has a long history, it has never offered a single, universally valid method; instead, its various traditions propose different concepts of interpretation, all grounded in one shared condition: any theory of interpretation must include a theory of the interpreting subject. 

This course explores key hermeneutical theories and the foundational concepts of interpretation and understanding that shape the humanities. Through language games, practical exercises, and guided discussions, we will examine how we read and understand, and how different theories conceptualise interpretation. This is a content-based language course (CLIL), which means that we learn English through philosophical content. Students enrolled in this course should have at least B1++ proficiency in English, be interested in philosophy and the hermeneutical tradition of the humanities, and be willing to read philosophical texts as preparation for the course.

Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to:
- differentiate various theories of interpretation
- recognise key concepts of the humanities and work with them critically
- use the concepts attentively
- pursue research in the humanities
- write an academic essay
- present an abstract topic in front of the audience
- discuss theoretical problems in English
Syllabus

1. The Art of Interpretation – Hermeneutic Circle, Context, Subjectivity vs. Objectivity; Schleiermacher

2. Understanding in the Humanities – Limits of understanding, Method vs. Interpretation; Dilthey

3. Historicity and History – Influence of historical context on understanding; Dilthey, Gadamer

4. Existential Hermeneutics – Understanding as human experience; Heidegger

5. Time, Symbols, and Meaning – Role of temporality, metaphors, interpretation; Ricœur

6. Language and Truth – Critique of truth, language and grammar; Nietzsche

7. Discourse and Speaking Subjects – Discursive practices, power of language; Foucault

8. Deconstruction and Difference – Meaning, différance, language structures; Saussure, Derrida

9. Poststructuralist Reading Practices – Ideology and textual analysis; Althusser

10. Empirical Discourse Studies – Analysis of discourses in practice; Pêcheux

Literature
  • BELSEY, Catherine. Poststructuralism : a very short introduction. Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022, 137 stran. ISBN 9780198859963. info
  • ZIMMERMANN, Jens. Hermeneutics : a very short introduction. First edition. Oxford: Oxford university press, 2015, xiv, 159. ISBN 9780199685356. info
  • GRONDIN, Jean. Introduction to philosophical hermeneutics. Edited by Hans-Georg Gadamer, Translated by Joel Weinsheimer. New Haven: Yale university press, 1994, xv, 231 s. ISBN 0-300-07089-6. info
  • MARTIN, Glen T. From Nietzsche to Wittgenstein : the problem of truth and nihilism in the modern world. New York: Peter Lang, 1989, xv, 401. ISBN 0820409170. info
  • DE MAN, Paul. Allegories of reading : figural language in Rousseau, Nietzsche, Rilke, and Proust. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979, xi, 305. ISBN 9780300028454. info
  • GADAMER, Hans-Georg. Philosophical hermeneutics. Translated by David E. Linge. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976, lviii, 243. ISBN 9780520256408. info
Teaching methods (in Czech)
lectures, individual research
Assessment methods
Students may choose between two options for completing the course: two credits, which require regular participation and home reading of the texts demonstrated in the classroom, or four credits if they decide to pass the exam. In the latter case, they will deliver an abstract, an essay, and a presentation (based on their project proposal) in addition to the regular classwork.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught each semester.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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