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Hermeneutics begins in response to the threat of misunderstanding, which it seeks to rectify through the work of interpretation. Yet, inasmuch as the products of interpretation can never secure themselves from this very same threat, they require constant phenomenological vigilance, in turn. This chapter applies this critical vigilance to Ricoeur's own articulation of hermeneutics, showing that its commitment to structuralism imposes an unwarranted restriction on the things themselves. This poses a serious challenge for Ricoeur's hermeneutics. For, if structuralism does not enhance understanding, then Ricoeur's hermeneutic circle becomes a vicious circle that begins and ends with misunderstanding. As a way to surmount this problem, this chapter develops the alternative of an intersectional hermeneutics in which intersectional theory takes over the role previously played by structuralism.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-33426-4_12

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