--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Prior to any generalization about…" description: "\"“Prior to any generalization about literature, literary texts have to be read, and the possibility of reading can never be taken for granted. It is an ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfb/paul-de-man-32598_books_prior-to-any-generalization-about-litera_1693733.png" --- # Prior to any generalization about literature, literary… ![“Prior to any generalization about literature, literary texts have to be read, and the possibility of reading can never be taken for granted. It is an act of understanding that can never be observed, nor in any way prescribed or verified.” quote by Paul De Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfb/paul-de-man-32598_books_prior-to-any-generalization-about-litera_1693733.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfb/paul-de-man-32598_books_prior-to-any-generalization-about-litera_1693733.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfb/paul-de-man-32598_books_prior-to-any-generalization-about-litera_1693733.png) > ““Prior to any generalization about literature, literary texts have to be read, and the possibility of reading can never be taken for granted. It is an act of understanding that can never be observed, nor in any way prescribed or verified.”” [Paul De Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding literature requires a reading act that cannot be fully verified or prescribed, highlighting the inherent uncertainty of interpretation. **In simple terms:** Reading literature is an unobservable, unprescribable act. Key Takeaway Embrace interpretive openness. Themes interpretation literary theory uncertainty Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic seminars - book clubs - critical essays Key Concepts hermeneutics epistemology Questions to Reflect On - Can meaning be fully known? - How does this affect literary criticism? A Different Perspective Interpretations may be contested and lack absolute proof. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Taken for granted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken-for-granted/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“When historians and literary scholars talk about the classical heritage, or the legacy to Western civilization from antiquity, they are primarily thinking of four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/when-historians-and-literary-scholars-talk-about-the-classical/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [You know, missing someone you love and saving their texts to re-read them when no one is watching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-missing-someone-you-love-and-saving-their-texts-to-re-read/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You know you love someone when you save their texts and re-read them when no one is watching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-you-love-someone-when-you-save-their-texts-and-re-read-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“...begged them as we read our literary texts, only to listen. To wrench open - it takes an effort of will - the portcullis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-gekoski/begged-them-as-we-read-our-literary-texts-only-to-listen-to-wrench/) [Rick Gekoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-gekoski/) > [Literary texts do not exist on bookshelves: they are processes of signification materialized only in the practice of reading. For literature to happen, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literary-texts-do-not-exist-on-bookshelves-they-are-processes-of/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“Cole gets up and then says, “Adam. Five texts. I can read them to you.” He pauses. “Unless they’re personal.” I roll my eyes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/cole-gets-up-and-then-says-adam-five-texts-i-can-read-them-to-you-he/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [What I teach is literary criticism and comparative literature and so on and that's my function, but from time to time it's possible for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/what-i-teach-is-literary-criticism-and-comparative-literature-and-so/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [I'm more interested than Philip Roth in understanding women, even if I do it imperfectly. But that book, Portnoy's Complaint, is literary punk in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-mahajan/i-m-more-interested-than-philip-roth-in-understanding-women-even-if-i/) [Karan Mahajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-mahajan/) > [Criticism even should not be without its charms. When quite devoid of all amenities, it is no longer literary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/criticism-even-should-not-be-without-its-charms-when-quite-devoid-of/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [There's definitely been a focus on the literary aspects of my music, and I always get a little cringey because I don't feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-holter/there-s-definitely-been-a-focus-on-the-literary-aspects-of-my-music/) [Julia Holter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-holter/) > [I have said it somewhere - our literary lived lives are as important as our literally lived lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/i-have-said-it-somewhere-our-literary-lived-lives-are-as-important-as/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [They never opened the door which leads to the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/they-never-opened-the-door-which-leads-to-the-soul/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“And when I’d settled down, I considered the possibility that I wasn’t yet ready to ask for the love of anyone because I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-decker/and-when-i-d-settled-down-i-considered-the-possibility-that-i-wasn-t/) [Steven Decker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-decker/) > [I would say that there is no future for literary studies as such in the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/i-would-say-that-there-is-no-future-for-literary-studies-as-such-in/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) ## More by Paul De Man > [If one reads too quickly or too slowly, one understands nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/if-one-reads-too-quickly-or-too-slowly-one-understands-nothing/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Literature exists at the same time in the modes of error and truth; it both betrays and obeys its own mode of being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/literature-exists-at-the-same-time-in-the-modes-of-error-and-truth-it/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Modernity exists in the form of a desire to wipe out whatever came earlier, in the hope of reaching at least a point that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/modernity-exists-in-the-form-of-a-desire-to-wipe-out-whatever-came/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Metaphors are much more tenacious than facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/metaphors-are-much-more-tenacious-than-facts/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [“...asked by his wife whether he wants to have his bowling shoes laced over or laced under, Archie Bunker answers the question: "What's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/asked-by-his-wife-whether-he-wants-to-have-his-bowling-shoes-laced/) [Paul De Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [What we call ideology is precisely the confusion of linguistic with natural reality, of reference with phenomenalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/what-we-call-ideology-is-precisely-the-confusion-of-linguistic-with/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [The critical method which denies literary modernity would appear -- and even, in certain respects, would be -- the most modern of critical movements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/the-critical-method-which-denies-literary-modernity-would-appear-and/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Curiously enough, it seems to be only in describing a mode of language which does not mean what it says that one can actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/curiously-enough-it-seems-to-be-only-in-describing-a-mode-of-language/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Fashion is like the ashes left behind by the uniquely shaped flames of the fire, the trace alone revealing that a fire actually took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/fashion-is-like-the-ashes-left-behind-by-the-uniquely-shaped-flames/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Death is a displaced name for a linguistic predicament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/death-is-a-displaced-name-for-a-linguistic-predicament/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [The writer's language is to some degree the product of his own action; he is both the historian and the agent of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/the-writer-s-language-is-to-some-degree-the-product-of-his-own-action/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [“No one in his right mind will try to grow grapes by the luminosity of the word "day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/no-one-in-his-right-mind-will-try-to-grow-grapes-by-the-luminosity-of/) [Paul De Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [The ambivalence of writing is such that it can be considered both an act and an interpretive process that follows after an act with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/the-ambivalence-of-writing-is-such-that-it-can-be-considered-both-an/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) > [Literature... is condemned (or privileged) to be forever the most rigorous and, consequently, the most reliable of terms in which man names and transforms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-de-man/literature-is-condemned-or-privileged-to-be-forever-the-most-rigorous/) [Paul de Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) [Explore all 15 Paul De Man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-de-man/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Prior to any generalization about literature, literary texts have to be read, and the possibility of reading can never be taken for granted. 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