Empatia i hermeneutyka. Poszukiwanie relacji

Abstract

The article concerns the relation between the interactional theory of empathy and the hermeneutic model of reader’s communion with a poetic text. It is assumed that encounter with poetry does not need to be simplified to a common experiential plane, but it does not exclude such a possibility. Theoretical considerations are focused on three selected issues: the preliminary acceptance of the other “Self”, adopting the other’s perspective, and self-knowledge in an interpersonal relation. The final part of the article presents the possibility of applying the theoretical conclusions in the process of school reading of literary texts. The collected reflections show that considering empathy and hermeneutics in the category of exclusive alternatives is not always justified.