Week 6

Foucault's "What is an Author?" examines the current state of an author by attempting to define or at least illuminate the indefinability of what an author is. He asks, "What does it matter who is speaking?"

-The notion of "the work": when, asks Foucault, does any written word by an author cease to become a "work" of authorship? And if the individual does not occupy the status of "author" in the public mind, what then is considered a "work"?

-The notion of "writing": says the author, "To admit that writing is, because of the very history that made it possible, subject to the test of oblivion and repression, seems to represent, in trancendental terms, the religious principle of the hidden meaning (which requires interpretation) and the critical principle of implicit significations, silent determinations, and obscured contents (which gives rise to commentary)." I honestly have no idea what this means, but it's probably important.

-Names: what is an author's name? Unlike a mere proper noun, it refers to a person who has written something, as opposed to a person who merely exists. Saying, for instance, that an author didn't look like portraits painted of him/her is not a problem, says the author, unless we try to say something that interferes between an author and an existing work, such as "Shakespeare didn't write Romeo and Juliet". Obviously, the work exists, so who wrote it? Apparently this is different than saying that Bob the butcher didn't cut your meat. Well, who cut it? Perhaps it is all a function of the idea that the one act that is not mechanically creatable (such as cutting meat) is writing original works. At least, really famous original works from a long time ago when there weren't computers.

-The author function: 1) Historically, an author's work was considered either good or evil, and the author rewarded or punished accordingly. 2) There is a difference between literary and scientific texts, in that the latter are understood as stemming from the authority of truth, not genius. 3) A writer does not immediately assume author status, but is given it when s/he pleases critics. 4) An author's work is attributed to his/her distinctive style.