ABSTRACT
This chapter builds the incipient movement in the social sciences aiming to complement the traditional concern for discursive dimensions of cultural life with the embodied forms of social phenomena. In particular, it seeks to extend the "paradigm of embodiment" and the pragmatist notion of "bodymind" to interpretation theory, suggesting the way we can turn body and emotion into a hermeneutical resource. The discussion begins with classical hermeneutics which equates meaning with authorial intent and logical sense and then contrasts this tradition with the pragmatism-inspired approach that brings into the interpretation process somatic, emotional, and behavioral signs. After outlining pragmatist hermeneutics and biocritical analysis based on it, the chapter focuses on postmodernism as a discourse and an embodied practice. It proposes a line of inquiry grounded in the hermeneutics of embodiment, discusses its potential as an alternative to depth hermeneutics, and explores interfaces between pragmatist hermeneutics and kindred theoretical perspectives.
