Tags: Writing Literature
The author of a text is unable to act (unilaterally, at least) through that text. They cede their agency to the reader who is capable of interpreting and responding to the text; therefore, according to Barthes, the author is dead at the moment the text is consumed. The text itself is an assemblage of quotations, of influences, of citations; there is no text that is not these subordinate parts (from the author's point of view). It is only the reader that can give the assemblage full coherence.
Hence, the author is dead at the point at which the reader takes control of the meaning of the text.
- See All writing is autobiographicalAll writing is autobiographical
Tags: [[Writing]]
All writing is to an extent autobiographical. In writing fiction, authors manifest aspects of themselves on the page, drawing on aspects of their own personality and experience ...: Is writing a futile act of self-preservation? - Writing is performativeWriting is performative
Tags: [[Writing]] [[Literature]]
The act of writing is a performance. It is not an act of exact representation of the world or the author, but a performance of authorship whereby the author's utte... - Writing is an act of performance on the part of the author but not truly of the author.