Hermeneutics is the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, a behaviour that is intrinsic to our daily lives. As humans, we decipher the meaning of newspaper articles, books, legal matters, religious texts, political speeches, emails, and even dinner conversations every day . But how is knowledge mediated through these forms? What constitutes the process of interpretation? And how do we draw meaning from the world around us so that we might understand our position in it?

In this Very Short Introduction Jens Zimmerman traces the history of hermeneutic theory, setting out its key elements, and demonstrating how they can be applied to a broad range of disciplines: theology; literature; law; and natural and social sciences. Demonstrating the longstanding and wide-ranging necessity of interpretation, Zimmerman reveals its signifiance in our current social and political landscape.

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Jens Zimmermann is Professor of English and Canada Research Chair for Interpretation, Religion and Culture at Trinity Western University, Canada. As well as speaking on the importance of hermeneutics and religion to lay audiences and graduate students, he has published books on theological hermeneutics in both English and German and has written articles on hermeneutics in academic journals. He is author of Politics and the Religious Imagination (Routledge, 2010) and Humanism and Religion (OUP, 2012).