What do people do when they interpret literature? Which textual elements do they select, what knowledge do they attribute to texts as meaning, and what kind of meaning (literal, symbolic, allegorical, etc.) do they assume? And what do people do by interpreting literature? Do they present their understanding of the text? Do they explain text meanings? Do they present a theory used for interpretation? Do they express indirect evaluations or appeals? Do they position themselves as representatives of an interpretive school? What functions can scientific interpretation have, and what functions should it have? Does it claim to produce true statements about its subject? Can it be critically assessed against this claim? Such questions are discussed in the first, theoretical chapter of the study. The conceptual tools developed in this chapter allow for the analysis of interpretations.