Discerning Difficulty? Q&A 1

Does the difficulty of discerning the author’s intentions render critical monism useless as an interpretation?

The theory of critical monism holds that there is one true, all encompassing interpretation of a literary work. Even if we stipulate that the critical monistic view can be reduced to an understanding of the author's intentions and environment, the difficulty of discerning the intentions with any certainty seems to be a rather difficult task. Furthermore, even if the task were undertaken and performed successfully, there is often no way to corroborate our interpretations and thereby remain open to question and criticism. What then is the value of such an endeavor?

Although we cannot be certain of an author's intention with a particular work, we can be certain that there is one. And if there is a particular message within the literary work, then it stands to reason that the message is discernible in some manner. Whether or not we can confirm the accuracy of our true interpretations is another matter fraught with more difficulty. However, it seems that the difficulty of interpreting a literary work with complete certitude does not preclude one from achieving it.