Ronald Barthes The Death of the Author (1967) The end of structuralism, the beginning of post-structuralism.
. The issue of authorship is raised. 197 ! Ronald Barthes" #$ te%t is a multi-dimensional space in &hich a 'ariet( of &ritings, none of them original, blend and clash. The te%t is a tissue of )uotations dra&n from the innumerable centres of culture.* +e& ,ritics &ere onl( interested in the te%t, onl( in intrinsic te%t- on the basis of a 'erbal structure the( made assumptions that the meanings are created b( the &ords, phrases, etc. (the( e%ist in the te%t). .imilarl( /ormalism and .tructuralism
0n heteroglossia, Ba1htin pointed out that man( discourses enter the te%t from the outside. 0nterte%tual studies &ere greatl( stimulated b( Ba1htin. 2e didn3t mention te%tual problems. 4riste'a 5 she follo&ed Ba1htin, she loo1ed at linguistic side of the te%t. Ronald Barthes 6erard 6enette
7i1e in T... 8liot3s Wasteland. Barthes focuses on the 8uropean tradition (traditional concept of the author). 2e claims that emergence of 8nglish and /rench empiricism and rationalism bring interest in human person. ! the author identified &ith a human person. The indi'idual has been treated as a human being. 7iterature is the culmination of capitalist ideolog( &hich attracted great importance to the person of the author. ,apitalist ideolog( attracted interest to the prestige of the indi'idual. The image of literature &as centered on the author and his life 5 such a 'ie& is based on the assumption that the author is confiding in us. 9an( authors loosened the concept of authorship, i.e. 9allarm: (it3s the language that spea1), ;aler(, or representati'es of surrealism (the( emphacised 3the automatic &riting3), /erdinand de .aussure (he pro'ided the destraction of the concept of the author). Barthes ! modern &riter is a scriptor. <riting fiction doesn3t in'ol'e the process of recording pre-formed thoughts and emotions, &or1ing from the signifiers to the signified. <or1ing &ith the signifiers and lettingthe signifieds to ta1e care of themsel'es. The scriptor is born simultaneousl( &ith the emergence of the te%t. 0t has no other origin that the language itself. The scriptor puts together 'arious 1inds of &ritings coming from the outside. The te%t is not a line of &ords releasing the message of the author. The scriptor3s onl( po&er is to mi% different &ritings, he doesn3t e%press himself. The &ords are onl( e%plainable than1s to other &ords, not the emotions of the author. The scriptor is ne'er original ma1ing use of the characters, plots used before. 2e emphasi=es the role of the reader. +o one can read something no&ada(s &ithout being a&are of the conte%t of the piece of art. 2is role is enormous. The author is al&a(s the past of the te%t. The unit( of the te%t lies in its destination (reader), not in its origin. The reader gi'es the future to te%t b( consuming it. The birth of the reader begun &ith the death of the author. 9odernit( > ?ostmodernit( @ 9odernism > ?ostmodernism ! trends in philosoph(, culture, arts, social sciences. 9odernit( @ ?ostmodernit( ! come from histor( and sociolog(.
9odernism @ ?ostmodernism ! broad aesthetics mo'ements of the AB th centur(.
9odernit( is much older than 9odernism- the label 3modern3 &as coined b( 19 th-centur( sociolog(. 9CD8R+ 8R$ corresponds &ith the 8uropean 8nglightenment (the $ge of Reason) ! 1E th centur(. 9odernit( and 8nglightenment 5 same assumptions" 1. .table coherent 1no&able self-human being. A. ,onscious, rational, autonomous, uni'ersal self-ph(sical conditions do not affect us- it 1no&s itself through reason (and also the &orld) ! the highest form of mental functioning. F. The age of abstraction. . Science of knowing is the mode that is created b( obGecti'e, rational self. H. Thruths are obGecti'e, eternal 5 it is possible to formulate them. 6. 4no&ledge &ould al&a(s lead to&ards progress and perfection. 7. $ll human institution can be anal(=ed b( means of reason, the( can be impro'ed b( the idea of progress. E. 7anguage as the mode of e%pression used in producing 1no&ledge, it has to be rational as &ell and also transparent, to represent the precei'able &orld obser'ed b( the rational mind. 9. /irm connection bet&een the obGects of perception and the &ords used to describe them (signifier 's. signified). 1B. 0t3s all about creating order out of chaos, pursuit of e'er increasing le'els of order. 11. Binary oppositions" order@disorder (order becomes 3the other3), male@non-male, rational@nonrational. Cne is al&a(s pri'ileged. 1A. 9odern societies are described b( totalit(, stabilit(, order through the means of grand narrati'es.
Iean-/rancois 7(otard found grand narratives as big stories that ha'e other minor stories are gi'en 'alue. The stories that a gi'en culture tells itself about its practices. 8%amples" democrac( in $merica is the highest, the most egalitarian form of go'ernment- the belief in communism.
