Interpréter, avez-vous dit !

oleh: Marc-Henry Soulet

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Association Internationale des Sociologues de Langue Française 2011-04-01

Deskripsi

Interpretation, in its multiple registers, such as according sense, uncovering signification, transposing and translating from one system to another in order to elucidate, construct and control meanings, is at the very heart of the activity undertaken by the social sciences. Interpretation does not however take the form of an empathetic introspection in order to understand an individual, to understand motives and reasons of his acts. Rather, it concentrates on the linking of facts, phenomena and of the meaning of such links, according to two distinct modalities as suggested by Charles-Henri Cuin’s dichotomy: 1) an explicative interpretation; 2) a semiological interpretation. In both cases, the sociological work includes a part which goes beyond the data, corresponding to what interpretation is all about. But over and above this fact, we still need to agree on what interpretation really means and, especially, to clarify how to interpret. In addressing such issues in this short article, I will adopt a passeronian perspective – entirely interpretative and empirically constraint – as well as attempting to develop the avenues that this perspective suggests.