Letters to the Editor September 1988
The Dalton school of hermeneutics
To the Editors:
Roger Kimball’s “Guns and Other ‘Hermeneutical Acts’ at Columbia” (May 1988) was a personal attack on a friend of mine. May I respond?
Mr. Kimball does not know Frank Moretti, does not like him, and would hurt him if he could. I know Frank Moretti well, I have great affection and respect for him and wish him every happiness. So much for the article’s substance as I read it.
Mr. Kimball mentions one genuine issue but does not explore it. A “hermeneutical act” is distinguished from other kinds of acts (aesthetic, celebratory, pragmatic, etc.) by its essential purpose. It aims to uncover the thoughts and feelings which animate people in a given situation. Such thoughts and feelings are often submerged in custom and calculation—in “the usual polite back and forth of academic debate,” for example. If, as I believe, Mr. Kimball’s...
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