An examination of humanist hermeneutics in literary studies – the practice of reading close – but at a distance presents a space for the relationship between literary studies and other disciplines. Such practices lead to possibilities for renewed interdisciplinary exchange. Seen within the framework of current social constructionist or simply post-theory theory, this essay Close but not Deep: Literary Ethics and the Descriptive Turn shows how both critical hermeneutics and descriptive sociology disavow traditional humanist categories. This act reduces the singularity, canonization and isolation of the text. However, it is probably true that key humanist values ​​always remain active and useful in literary studies. Belief in the potential aesthetic and ethical force of literature is evident in the work of critics such as Cleanth Brooks, Lionel Trilling, and others. It is not uncommon to find ethical value within the text and in the critic's activity. The richness of human experiences within a text can be understood through philosophical hermeneutics on the one hand and its communicative situation on the other. The axis of consideration is on the exhaustive centrality of ethical needs which remains fundamental for literary interpretation practices today. The specter of the descriptive turn is perennial to gain access both to otherness and to a message that the text stipulates in reverse form (looking from the other side of the situation). “… Interpretative practices borrowed from Marxism and psychoanalysis, from structuralism and post-Structuralism, semiotics and deconstruction have moved the individual and consciousness from the center of investigation, shifting attention to the culture of language, of desire or... of the middle of paper... of the struggle. Try it and you'll see that everything changes.” Works Cited “A Thousand Plateaus.” Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., March 9, 2014. Web. May 18, 2014. "Erving Goffman." Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., May 16, 2014. Web. May 18, 2014. Latour, Bruno. "How to maintain the social apartment." Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network theory. Oxford University Press, 2005.165-172. Press.---. “Why has criticism exhausted its force? From questions of fact to questions of concern. Critical Inquiry, 30(2004): 225-248. Print.Love, Heather. “Close but not Deep: Literary Ethics and the Descriptive Turn.” New Literary History, 41, 2 (2010): 371-391. Print.Works Cited