Description:
In Symbolism and Interpretation, Tzvetan Todorov examines two aspects of discourse: its production, which has traditionally been the domain of rhetoric, and its reception, which has always been the object of hermeneutics.
Brief description: Tzvetan Todorov is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. A native of Bulgaria living in France for over four decades, he is among the most influential literary and cultural theorists writing today. Among his many books available in English translation are The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Theories of the Symbol, and Symbolism and Interpretation, all available from Cornell.
Review Quotes: "With his habitual clarity of exposition and grasp of ideas, Todorov here reviews rhetorical theories of linguistic symbolism and the various models proposed for its interpretation from Aristotle to Hirsch. His conclusions not only are judicious but also promise to be a healthy influence in the age of post-Derridean reconstruction."--Virginia Quarterly Review