According to many biblical scholars (an example would
be the Catholic exegete Bruce Vawter), "literal"
interpretation means that we take the text to say
what the author intended it to say. This does indeed
mean that we interpret poetry and history differently.
I would add that we should ALWAYS try to get the literal
meaning, in this sense.
To take a text "literalistically" is to do what Galileo
described as taking "what the bare words signify" as the
actual meaning. In a number of cases this misleads,
as he recognized. The question, then, is when the
literalistic meaning also happens to be the literal
meaning. IMHO, our assumptions (that is really what
they often are) about genre will usually determine the
answer.
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Ted Davis
Assoc Prof of Science and History
Messiah College
Grantham, PA 17027
717-766-2511, ext 6840
tdavis@mcis.messiah.edu