Philosophy and Literature

Abstract:

Scrutinizing the cognitive value of the metaphor of source, this article comes to the conclusion that the meaning of a literary work has multiple sources. To map the different sources, it uses Jakobson's six factors of communication. Sender refers to the author, who is one, but not the only, source. Receiver: texts may mean different things to different readers. Channel: material circumstances of reading have influence on meaning. Context: texts change their meaning in time (or space). Code: not only language but also literary genres and traditions. Message: most literary texts exist in several variations, which may have different meanings.