Humanistic Aspects of Text and Image Interpretation: Five Lectures

Abstract

In this lecture series I would like to take you on a journey through the interdisciplinary foundations of interpreting qualitative data as text and images - from hermeneutics, semiotics and phenomenology to the theory of communicative action. So this is not about the many individual methods of text and image interpretation, for which there are excellent introductions, individual presentations and handbook articles, and webinars. The fifth lecture describes the ‘philosophy’ of qualitative projects; it is about the logic of discovering new insights and about the grounded as a comprehensive project strategy. My aim is to make this lecture series an exciting intellectual adventure and to provide you with a rich background knowledge of text and image interpretation. Along the way, you will gain insights into existential questions such as the position of consciousness in the material world or the prerequisites for understanding others and communication. In all of this, I will endeavour to convey even sophisticated theoretical approaches in an understandable way.