Hermeneutics_of_suspicion
Hermeneutics of suspicion
Literary interpretation style that uses skepticism to expose hidden meaning
The hermeneutics of suspicion is a style of literary interpretation in which texts are read with skepticism in order to expose their purported repressed or hidden meanings.[1]
This mode of interpretation was conceptualized by Paul Ricœur, inspired by the works of what he called the three "masters of suspicion" (French: maîtres du soupçon):[2] Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Friedrich Nietzsche,[3]: 33, 35 who, he believed, shared a similar view of consciousness as false.[4] Ricœur's term "school of suspicion" (French: école du soupçon)[5] refers to his association of his theory with the writings of the three, who themselves never used this term,[6]: 32 and was coined in Freud and Philosophy (1965).[3][6][7]: 2 This school is defined by a belief that the straightforward appearances of texts are deceptive or self-deceptive and that explicit content hides deeper meanings or implications.[1][8]