TRADITIONAL LITERARY INTERPRETATION VERSUS SUBVERSIVE INTERPRETATION

I draw a distinction between traditional literary interpretation, which makes assertions which suitably informed readers are expected to accept on the basis of a kind of intuition, and subversive interpretation, which aims to present a counterintuitive interpretation of a text which fits with the evidence. Traditional literary interpretation faces objections of being unscientific and undemocratic. Subversive interpretation may appear as a solution, but it is so difficult to successfully use this approach that it is questionable whether it solves the objection of being undemocratic.