Gadamer on artwork`s autonomy in interpretation

This paper examines Gadamer’s understanding of artwork’s autonomy within the artwork’s reception and interpretation. Firstly, it explores what constitutes the artwork’s meaning and identifies what is excluded from the process of meaning constitution according to Gadamer. Based on this, it draws conclusions regarding what is and what is not significant for the understanding and interpretation of the artwork. In the second chapter, it explores Gadamer’s conception of the artwork’s experience as a hermeneutical situation. The focus is on the nature of the artwork’s experience, Gadamer’s idea of the artwork as an answer to a question, and his thesis on the three layers of the artwork’s experience. Finally, in the third chapter, it addresses the quandary of the artwork’s autonomy concerning interpretation and its openness to a multitude of understandings. This quandary is ultimately resolved by introducing the principle of the artwork as the locus of meaning constitution and the source of its autonomy.