Verbatim quote · from the corpus

“Each repetition of the aborted gesture is itself a form of “interpretation,” mimetically conveying to the other participants that the sign should be of a certain form, and that the object that occasioned it, otherwise inaccessible, is being re-presented by it. Human history begins with this “interpretation” that defers mimetic conflict through the shared decision to understand the originary sign as meaning the object-as-sacred/significant. But the unanimous conferral of meaning on a sign is not what we mean by hermeneutics , which is posterior to the sign’s originary function to defer violence. In the originary scene, the referent of the unique sign is selected from the entire universe as the sole bearer of sacred significance. The sign represents only this; the rest of the universe is not worthy of representation, since at this specific moment it plays no significant role in the deferral of violence. Yet the rest of the universe remains potentially desirable, and the new human community cannot remain indifferent to it. Hence although the first sign represents only the central object, it can be “interpreted” to comprehend the entire universe, all of which can be understood as potentially significant in terms of its relation to the unique sign. Indeed, the proof that this happened is simply the fact that language did expand to include every possibly representable object; anything we find of interest can receive a name in any language and become subject to predication.”

— Eric Gans, Hermeneutics · Saturday, November 21st, 2009 · Chronicles of Love & Resentment