{{Short description|Explanation of the meaning of a work of art}} {{About|Artistic interpretation|other types of interpretation|Interpretation (disambiguation){{!}}Interpretation}} {{one source|date=May 2026}} In the philosophy of art, an '''interpretation''' is an explanation of the meaning of a work of art.{{efn|In ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1864–1865), Book 3, Chapter 10, Charles Dickens gives as examples "[a}n actress's Reading of a chambermaid, a dancer's Reading of a hornpipe, a singer's Reading of a song, a marine painter's Reading of the sea, the kettle-drum's Reading of an instrumental passage".}} An '''aesthetic interpretation''' expresses a particular emotional or experiential understanding most often used in reference to a poem or piece of literature, and may also apply to a work of visual art or performance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/aesthetic-interpretive-understanding|title=Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding|access-date=10 May 2017|archive-date=1 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601171005/https://generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/aesthetic-interpretive-understanding|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In the early 20th Century the German philosopher Martin Heidegger explored questions of formal philosophical analysis verses personal interpretations of aesthetic experience, preferencing the direct subjective experience of a work of art as essential to an individual's aesthetic interpretation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heidegger-aesthetics/#SymSub|title=Heidegger's Aesthetics|access-date=9 May 2017}}</ref>
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
== See also == *''Against Interpretation'' *Representation (arts)
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *E. D. Hirsch, Jr., ''Validity in Interpretation (1967)'' *E. D. Hirsch, Jr., ''Aims of Interpretation'' (1976) *Michael Krausz, ''Is there a single right interpretation?'' *[http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-926/theory.htm Louise Rosenblatt on efferent and aesthetic reading.] *{{InPho|taxonomy|2272}} *{{PhilPapers|category|aesthetic-interpretation}}
{{Aesthetics}} {{Mental processes}}
Category:Hermeneutics Category:Concepts in aesthetics Category:Perception Category:Interpretation (philosophy)