OUGD501 - Study Task 1 - The Death of the Author

The overall text by Barthes is written against the Aueter theory, a theory that works of art, films, novels etc can be understood through the individual characteristics and styles of the director or author. 

"The removal of the Author (one could talk here with Brecht of a veritable 'distancing', the Author diminishing like a figurine at the far end of the literary stage) is not merely an historical fact or an act of writing; it utterly transforms the modern text (or - which is the same thing - the text is henceforth made and read in such a way that at all its levels the author absent)."

This text is showing an untold relationship between the reader and the author. That only the reader can interpret meaning from any text and that no author can provide meaning as everyone would interpret things differently. Therefore meaning is only created at the point of reading and not at the point of writing. This is the death of the author and the birth of the reader that Barthe's concludes with.

"Succeeding the Author, the scriptor no longer bears within him passions, humours, feelings, impressions, but rather this immense dictionary from which he draws a writing that can know no halt: life never does more than imitate the book, and the book itself is only tissue of signs, an imitation that is lost, infinitely deferred." 

Here, Barthes argues that no writing can ever be original because everything comes from a "dictionary" of the author's knowledge. He argues that everyone is brought up with certain knowledge of history and culture and they create this dictionary of knowledge from texts that they have read and things that they have seen, therefore their inspiration and their writings aren't original.    

The central point being to get people to engage with the world differently. It is encouraging you to challenge the dominant approach on the world. Also challenging the idea that everything has a fixed media. It is the struggle between a cultural authority's opinion and your own. 


SOCIETY

"The author is a product of our society"

This shows that to be successful an author must be accepted by society otherwise they will not be successful. Society decides the norms for everyone to follow. 

"It is thus logical that in literature it should be this positivism, the epitome and culmination of capitalist ideology, which has attached the greatest importance to the 'person' of the author."

Here Barthes shows us that in our capitalist society, the 'knowledgable' and the educated rise to the top of our social hierarchy where everyone else has to be taught by these people. Society has divisions and hierarchies where people are made to feel unintelligent in contrast to others.

References:
Barthes, R. (1968) "The Death of the Author" in: Barthes, R. (1977). "Image, Music, Text", London, Harper Collins.