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An Analysis of Roland Barthes's The Death of the Author
Roland Barthes’s 1967 essay, "The Death of the Author," argues against the traditional practice of incorporating the intentions and biographical context of an author into textual interpretation because of the resultant limitations imposed on a text. Hailing "the birth of the reader," Barthes posits a new abstract notion of the reader as the conceptual space containing all the text’s possible meanings. The essay has become one of the most cited works in literary criticism and is a key text for any reader approaching reader response theory.
- GenresEssaysNonfiction
96 pages, Paperback
Published June 4, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 12, 2020
Lucid Explanation
Explained an important essay that changed my life. Gave me a new and varied understanding of Barthes most famous work.
Explained an important essay that changed my life. Gave me a new and varied understanding of Barthes most famous work.
September 17, 2024
çok güzeldi. kalemi defteri alıp bu işin mutfağında yeniden öğrenci olmayı istetecek kadar keyifle kurulmuş kitap. belki bir gün 👵🏻
December 5, 2024
I haven’t been reviewing ‘academic’ stuff on Goodreads because nobody wants to endure that. But I picked this up (in an extortionate book shop in Bath) specifically because I over-excitedly thought it could make a good review.
I thought it would be ironic. That is, I thought the text would embrace the ironies of it existing. If Barthes constructs the reader as an abstract and infinite entity which demands the de-authorship of the author, then an analysis of Barthes’ (alleged) authorship of this concept must antithetically resurrect the author of ‘The Death of the Author’…
How can an analysis exist in this purgatory space? Wouldn’t it be fun to play around here? I then thought, as Barthes also kills ‘The Critic’, I could also have fun responding to said irony. Unfortunately, the Macat analysis has missed the joke. There’s entirely uncritical chapters called ‘the author’s intentions’ and ‘the author’s contributions’. I’m not just arguing against objectivising Barthes because I’m post-modern obsessed. I accept that you can read Barthes however you want. I mean to say it’s so so so boring.
Furthermore, there’s an overemphasis on Barthes replacing ‘The Author’ with ‘The Scriptor’. This is one bracket in the 1967 essay which I think has been highlighted to it’s (again, ironic) death. As it stands, this analysis could have been AI produced. If it were, it would offer much more interesting conversations about how an AI can/cannot be an author and/or be a reader. As it stands, this reader, “without history, psychology, or biography, who gathers into a single field all the paths of which the text is constituted”, deems this a waste.
I thought it would be ironic. That is, I thought the text would embrace the ironies of it existing. If Barthes constructs the reader as an abstract and infinite entity which demands the de-authorship of the author, then an analysis of Barthes’ (alleged) authorship of this concept must antithetically resurrect the author of ‘The Death of the Author’…
How can an analysis exist in this purgatory space? Wouldn’t it be fun to play around here? I then thought, as Barthes also kills ‘The Critic’, I could also have fun responding to said irony. Unfortunately, the Macat analysis has missed the joke. There’s entirely uncritical chapters called ‘the author’s intentions’ and ‘the author’s contributions’. I’m not just arguing against objectivising Barthes because I’m post-modern obsessed. I accept that you can read Barthes however you want. I mean to say it’s so so so boring.
Furthermore, there’s an overemphasis on Barthes replacing ‘The Author’ with ‘The Scriptor’. This is one bracket in the 1967 essay which I think has been highlighted to it’s (again, ironic) death. As it stands, this analysis could have been AI produced. If it were, it would offer much more interesting conversations about how an AI can/cannot be an author and/or be a reader. As it stands, this reader, “without history, psychology, or biography, who gathers into a single field all the paths of which the text is constituted”, deems this a waste.
August 28, 2018
Beautifully expressed thoughts
It is most beautiful piece of work. One must read it as it will give you a wider prospective living life
It is most beautiful piece of work. One must read it as it will give you a wider prospective living life
February 4, 2026
Picked up this book on sale and now I wonder why did I thought that I needed the 6 page essay explained to me as if I'm 5 years old in 66 pages. Reading the essay itself was totally enough for understanding the thing.
The analysis is watery and every next chapter repeats the previous but paraphrased.
Meh
The analysis is watery and every next chapter repeats the previous but paraphrased.
Meh
July 22, 2023
It's my first time reading an essay analysis, and I thought I would get bored but this book surprised me. I cannot stop reading it, even though I have midterms.
Laura Seymour did an amazing job on both the analysis of the Ronald Barthes' essay and the reactions from the world. I underlined every other author's name and their essays to answer The Death Of The Author; because I want to read about it more.
Firstly, I thought the author should be known by the readers to understand the main idea of fiction. While reading this analysis, I started to agree with Roland Barthes' argument. Literature is a form of art, therefore, books are most of the time subjective. What we understand from a 'subjective work' is also something that belongs to ourselves. So yeah, maybe the author should have died while reading a fiction, then we can revive the author to see what we missed.
Very well done analysis, I love it. Highly recommend!
Laura Seymour did an amazing job on both the analysis of the Ronald Barthes' essay and the reactions from the world. I underlined every other author's name and their essays to answer The Death Of The Author; because I want to read about it more.
Firstly, I thought the author should be known by the readers to understand the main idea of fiction. While reading this analysis, I started to agree with Roland Barthes' argument. Literature is a form of art, therefore, books are most of the time subjective. What we understand from a 'subjective work' is also something that belongs to ourselves. So yeah, maybe the author should have died while reading a fiction, then we can revive the author to see what we missed.
Very well done analysis, I love it. Highly recommend!
January 26, 2022
"Okurun doğumu yazarın ölümü pahasına gerçekleşmelidir." diyor. Bu onun için daha geniş bir siyasi bağlamda da önemliydi. Yazarın otoritesini reddetmek, Barthes için anlamı yönetmeye çalışan herhangi bir kişinin otoritesini reddetmek anlamına geliyordu. Bu, düşüncelerini ve eylemlerini kontrol ederek başkalarını ezmeye çalışan avukatları, mülk sahipleri ve hükümetleri de içerir.”
.
Roland Barthes. Fransız edebiyat kuramcısı, göstergebilimci, filozof. Antropoloji, edebiyat teorisi yapısalcılık, post-yapısalcılık gibi alanlarda yaptığı çalışmalar ile tanıyoruz onu.
Resimde gördüğünüz eser söz konusu olunca, bu yazarla başka bir karşılaşma alanı bulmamız imkansız çünkü metinin varlığı, yazarın yokluğu ile anılır hale geliyor.
Bir yitim, bize mutlak olanı veriyor.
.
Yaratıcılığın sürekli değişimde ve tepki sürecinde olduğunu savundu çünkü yazı halka arz edildiği andan itibaren yazarın düş birliğinden çıkıyor ve tamamen yeniden yorumlanmaya, kendi orijin noktasını yaratmaya başlıyordu onun estetiğinde.
Dil, Barthes’ta insanı aşan ve yazıyı tekil bırakan bir yazar.
Dil ve okur, Barthes için aktif elemanlardır. Yazarı ‘sadece elleri olan bir daktilo’ olarak hayal etmemizi ister. “Yazarın Ölümü” onun, bütün bu düşüncelerini bir berrak su gibi aktardığı ; fakat düşünürün dünyası ile bakılması ve anlaşılması için belirli bir entelektüel birikim gerektiren bir deneme.
.
“Keşif” dizisinin okuduğum ilk kitabı, bu serinin zaruriyetini gösterdiği gibi müthiş bir okuma hazzı verdi. Barthes, 1967 senesinde yayımlanan kelimelerini yüksek raflarda tutuyor. “Roland Barthes'ın Yazarın Ölümü” ise bir tabure vazifesi görüyor bizim aramızda. Eserden alınan alıntılar, çıkarımlar, bölüm bölüm incelemeler ve ana fikir tabloları dışında kişiler ve sözcükler için ek bir kaynakça mevcut. Dilin basite indirgenmiş bu formunda bile Barthes ışıl ışıl. Eminim onu kendi dilinden okumak, rüya içinde başka bir rüyanın kapısını aralamak kadar heyecan vericidir.
.
Roland Barthes. Fransız edebiyat kuramcısı, göstergebilimci, filozof. Antropoloji, edebiyat teorisi yapısalcılık, post-yapısalcılık gibi alanlarda yaptığı çalışmalar ile tanıyoruz onu.
Resimde gördüğünüz eser söz konusu olunca, bu yazarla başka bir karşılaşma alanı bulmamız imkansız çünkü metinin varlığı, yazarın yokluğu ile anılır hale geliyor.
Bir yitim, bize mutlak olanı veriyor.
.
Yaratıcılığın sürekli değişimde ve tepki sürecinde olduğunu savundu çünkü yazı halka arz edildiği andan itibaren yazarın düş birliğinden çıkıyor ve tamamen yeniden yorumlanmaya, kendi orijin noktasını yaratmaya başlıyordu onun estetiğinde.
Dil, Barthes’ta insanı aşan ve yazıyı tekil bırakan bir yazar.
Dil ve okur, Barthes için aktif elemanlardır. Yazarı ‘sadece elleri olan bir daktilo’ olarak hayal etmemizi ister. “Yazarın Ölümü” onun, bütün bu düşüncelerini bir berrak su gibi aktardığı ; fakat düşünürün dünyası ile bakılması ve anlaşılması için belirli bir entelektüel birikim gerektiren bir deneme.
.
“Keşif” dizisinin okuduğum ilk kitabı, bu serinin zaruriyetini gösterdiği gibi müthiş bir okuma hazzı verdi. Barthes, 1967 senesinde yayımlanan kelimelerini yüksek raflarda tutuyor. “Roland Barthes'ın Yazarın Ölümü” ise bir tabure vazifesi görüyor bizim aramızda. Eserden alınan alıntılar, çıkarımlar, bölüm bölüm incelemeler ve ana fikir tabloları dışında kişiler ve sözcükler için ek bir kaynakça mevcut. Dilin basite indirgenmiş bu formunda bile Barthes ışıl ışıl. Eminim onu kendi dilinden okumak, rüya içinde başka bir rüyanın kapısını aralamak kadar heyecan vericidir.
July 18, 2024
Picked this up instead of the actual essay. A straightforward read with an ample of references from other famous works to build up on the understanding of separating the author from the work. It also presents oppositions and criticisms.
Essentially, Roland Barthes argues that we should treat a work as an independent entity from the author. The role of the author is then neutralized to that of a scriptor. While the author can be erroneous, a scriptor can’t be since it simply transcribes a thought that exists in a vacuum - without a personality or a biography.
“The Death of the Author” is seminal to the contemporary literature and art. Whether one agrees with Barthes’s argument or not, one will at least once in their life encounters the dilemma of separating the art from the artist. I don’t generally agree with his perspective but I see the validity and significance of disregarding the author when consuming their work.
Essentially, Roland Barthes argues that we should treat a work as an independent entity from the author. The role of the author is then neutralized to that of a scriptor. While the author can be erroneous, a scriptor can’t be since it simply transcribes a thought that exists in a vacuum - without a personality or a biography.
“The Death of the Author” is seminal to the contemporary literature and art. Whether one agrees with Barthes’s argument or not, one will at least once in their life encounters the dilemma of separating the art from the artist. I don’t generally agree with his perspective but I see the validity and significance of disregarding the author when consuming their work.
May 25, 2020
”To give writing its future, it is necessary to overthrow the myth: the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.”
- Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author.”
Did I just buy an essay and love it? Yes. Yes I did. This book provides insight into Barthes’ famous essay, “The Death of the Author.” An essay about an essay... how meta.
It does it succinctly, and engagingly, with various references to other artists and critics as well as Barthes’ contemporaries. But it mainly focuses on Barthes’ arguments, themes and even ironically, his context. Barthes’ essay changed my life, and is perfect for anyone into literary criticism or is curious as to why J.K Rowling should just leave her damn work alone. Definite recommend, even if it’s an essay!
- Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author.”
Did I just buy an essay and love it? Yes. Yes I did. This book provides insight into Barthes’ famous essay, “The Death of the Author.” An essay about an essay... how meta.
It does it succinctly, and engagingly, with various references to other artists and critics as well as Barthes’ contemporaries. But it mainly focuses on Barthes’ arguments, themes and even ironically, his context. Barthes’ essay changed my life, and is perfect for anyone into literary criticism or is curious as to why J.K Rowling should just leave her damn work alone. Definite recommend, even if it’s an essay!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews