ABSTRACT
The common factor between many of the most significant developments in contemporary philosophy and literary theory, from semantics to deconstruction, is the revaluation of the nature of interpretation which ensues from a mistrust of both epistemological and semantic foundationalism. Schleiermacher’s work can still play a significant role in this revaluation, as I shall now try to show. 1 Before moving to an account of Schleiermacher’s contemporary significance, it is important first briefly to establish historical links to the theories considered in previous chapters, which will make the direction of my alternative story of modern literary theory clearer.
