Interpretive approach to contextualism and its application in interpreting religious texts (Quran) and law texts (laws)

Subject Areas : Journal of Law and Politics

Rima Amiraghdam ^{1 *} , Hasan Borji ^{2 *}

1 - -
2 - -

Received: 2015-11-30 Accepted : 2015-11-30 Published : 2014-05-22

Keywords: Interpretation, contextualism, textual context, situational context, kinds of contextualism,

Abstract :

Different parameters affect interpreting a text such as the text itself, author and audience and….hf the situation (environment) is emphasized then we encounter contextualism. Context consists of textual context and situational. Textual context is about the focused text and the situational context is the atmosphere in which the language is used. Textual context affects the ultimate meaning of the text in two ways: first is affecting the pre-understanding of the reader (e.g his/her expectations) the other is resembling , or associating some elements of the textual context with other elements of the text read and consequently affecting their meaning. Situational context is interpreting basedon parameters of the possible world, time, location, audience , narrator and the subject. We can observe the application of textual context in Quran by Quran and the application of the situational context in interpreting Quran based on the reason of revelation. In this paper, first the concept of context and its types and different kinds of contextualism is reviewed, later on its application in various historyschools, open scientific research and its application in interpreting law texts considering its application in interpreting religious texts is discussed.