Interpretive Value (Q&A 2)

What value does an interpretation have if it does not correspond to the author’s intended message?

In the critical pluralism view of literature, there are many different and equally valid interpretations of a literary work. In Stecker's view, critical pluralism may lead to an "acceptable" interpretation of literature if it adheres to the text in some manner. Thus, the acceptability of an interpretation is confined to the work solely, and its strength is determined by the evidence the text provides for it. This would include interpretations of a work which may not correspond reasonably with the author's perceived intentions; an interpretation may still be valid even it uses a philosophical position that occurred after the author's time. The value of such an interpretation is inherent to the interpretation itself; if a particular "untrue" interpretation of a literary work somehow enriches one's perspective, than that is the value one gained from the interpretation.