Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

post what?! (not) an abbreviated introduction 17
many words, Descartes believed the discovery of the modern subject was
akin to the discovery of a natural law, like gravity. Thus, he was not unlike
a modern scientist, discovering fundamental truths about the world. It is
for this reason that he is credited, along with Francis Bacon (1561–1626) and
others, of giving birth to the modern scientifi c method.
Obviously, the modern subject is closely related to natural law, the second
foundation of modernity. Few readers will fi nd any reason to dispute
the claim that the world is composed of natural laws that exist objectively,
or prior to human interpretation. Gravity, to use our prior example, has been
around forever, but it is only in the relatively recent past that human beings
(such as Isaac Newton) gained knowledge of its existence in the form of a
mathematical equation. We can attribute this modern concept of an objective,
truthful world existing a priori, or prior to, human interpretation to the
scientifi c revolution (roughly 1550–1650). The early scientists believed they
discovered a world functioning like a machine, according to natural laws
that awaited unveiling through the scientifi c method. Suddenly, the world
was no longer a great mystery to be understood solely through moments of
religious revelation. Early scientists, and indeed their recent counterparts,
marveled at the harmony of nature. They believed the material world, as an
expression of this harmony, provided them with the raw material to conduct
experiments and thereby expose the truths about natural law.
The idea that the world is composed of objective truths that exist prior
to human interpretation is known as an essentialism, which derives from
a belief in ontologies, that things have predetermined properties or truths
that are available to be discovered. In the words of Diana Fuss, an English
professor and theorist, “Essentialism [is] a belief in the real, true essence of
things, the invariable and fi xed properties which defi ne the ‘whatness’ of
a given entity.” 15 The exercise of discovering ontological and essentialist
truths is known as hermeneutics, or “the science of interpretation.” 16 The
term is often closely associated with theological studies because biblical
scholars used its principles to seek out the oldest religious texts under the
premise that these original texts were the closest they could get to God’s
true meaning, to religious truth. They rejected secondary copies and translations
in favor of going straight to the primary sources in their original
language. Therefore, biblical hermeneutics is a sort of Cartesian approach to
reading scripture; it assumes ontological truth and seeks out a foundational
moment to discern it. 17
Throughout this text, hermeneutic, essence, and essentialism will appear
frequently because we use them to indicate a modernist approach.
Hermeneutics is embedded in an unqualifi ed acceptance of ontological
principles, and modernity is nothing if not a hermeneutic exercise in search