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Interpreting” Period. End of the sentence” through Gadamerian Philosophy

Hans-Georg Gadamer’s account of hermeneutics has become the account of truth and meaning in the humanities. His ideas have been accepted as the best way to understand to what happens when we are reading a text, or interpreting and now we are starting to assimilate the ideas and communication and what they have to teach us, just learning to adapt our view to the information they gave. His idea of philosophical hermeneutics works on two levels not only it is hermeneutics of language, it is also a philosophical idea. Inspired from his teacher Heidegger. Not only language of words put a structure of reality, language as something that gives us the way we experience the world and in the ways we exist as human beings through embodiment, through ideas. This helps to realise the reality and helps create ourselves as the part of the world in which we live. Gadamer treats understanding and interpretation as a creative process for which cultural belonging is hardly problematic, instead he maintains that the understanding and interpretation of a tradition also contribute to its production. His hermeneutics centres on language and conversation. His idea is always going back to the idea that the spiritual and the scientific realist, the modern side of liberal cosmopolitan world can go together to make a fruitful form of contemporary society. Gadamer wants us to see ourselves within being, within language, within culture, within community, and being as players within the larger game. So, there are two entailments of language of meaning and reality. First is that, truth is not therefore completely relative in fact truth depends on particular rules that are bringing together all the other elements into the shared language or world. It means that reality is robust, this leaves a great room for creativity as it determines that each play is the creation of elements that make them up. Gadamer does not priorities the past but his motive is to empower everyone who is involved with language of each moment. This was criticised by Jurgen Habermas, that this concept makes it difficult for people to develop new ideas, hence not allowing the possibilities for future transformation, for younger generation to effect revolutionary changes. Gadamer accounted this, that the radical change can be affirmed or enabled by an understanding of the past background set of ideas that make new formulations possible. He believed that truth is not something that can be affirmed to a certain criteria, but it is an event or experience which we find ourselves engaged and changed. He emphasises on the goal of communication which according to him, is to be willing to change, to be willing to transform your own views into something else. The idea, that people bring their different thought worlds together, they bring it for the purpose of growing , of changing not only the other persons idea but also their own , goes to the heart of what hermeneutics mean as not only the description of truth , but also the practice of self-transformation and “the fusion of horizons” we should see.

My Interpretation PERIOD. The end of sentence….the documentary is aimed at unwrapping, stigma, fear, insecurity, ignorance and bad education inherent in a women’s life. This short film, about a village Hapur, miles away from Delhi, describes the effort of the local women to educate, and instil the awareness and accessibility to sanitary pads. The film opens inside a room, two girls in their adolescent years, shying away when asked to talk about menstruation. We see that reality is misconstrued, and there are bitter truth that surround menstruating women. As pointed out by Arunachalam Murauganantham, a social activist, who aims at making India a 100 percent napkin using country. Zehtabchi, the director presents us with a series of interviews of both men and women leading to the heart of the problem that freedom of women continues to be in the hands of dominant patriarchal society. In a country, where we talk of great scientific exploration and technological advancements, it is very saddening to see that these women till date face embarrassment and walk for miles concerning a normal biological process. The superstition, where elders of the village call it “Bad Blood” and we see young housewives speaking about the discarded cloth they use to wipe the “disease “away. The situations changes when Sneha, a strong- willed girl , who wants to join the police force, along with Rekha, and Shabana (Social Worker) , decides to recruit these women to work in her small pad machine factory. And soon we see the girls on the sales trip to promote “FLY” pads, which is their creation. All of this makes a journey of transition. Here, where women have been subject to restrictions in their daily lives simply because they are menstruating. They are also often restricted from offering prayers and touching holy books. Cultural norms and religious taboos are equated with evil spirits, shame and embarrassment surrounding reproduction. Such taboos impact on girls and women’s emotional state, mentality and lifestyle as a whole. The impact has been as brutal as girls in lesser developed parts of the country, drop out of school when they begin menstruating. Through this depiction of the problem, one has tried to bring to light the concept “fusion of horizons” by Gadamer, where we see the rural women fusing with the point of views of social workers who are following a strategic approach in combating the myths and social taboos associated with menstruation in order to improve the reproductive health of adolescent girls and women. Increasing the education status of women plays an important role in improving the health status of a community at large. Gadamer’s importance on dialogue and interaction as a central point to arrive to something better has been clearly displayed in this film , as women after a series of conversations , are waking up to the importance of using a sanitary pad , as a means to maintain hygiene and comfort during their biological monthly routines. The educative conversations are fusing the horizons of modernity with tradition, resulting in women slowly moving towards the hygienic practices. The film clarifies the belief, in company of tenacious women. My interpretation or rather understanding of this well acclaimed film, roots from the past and prevailing understanding of the Menstruation, which have had its different

interpretations at different times, right from considering women sacred and powerful, to menstrual blood being considered dangerous to the dogmatic beliefs considering women as impure. This film depicts the sad prevailing conditions and dogmas attached to the most natural biological process of a women’s body. The fact that women are open to change through conversation, depicts aspirations unfazed by reality and very well reminds of Gadamers idea of contributing to create ourselves as the part of the world in which we live.