Death of the Author

1
Death of the Author

• Additional Discussion of Roland Barthes The
  Death of the Author (1967)

2
A Controversial Notion

• . . . A text is made of multiple writings, drawn
  from many cultures and entering into mutual
  relations of dialogue, parody, contestation, but
  there is one place where this multiplicity is
  focused and that place is the reader, not . . .
  the author. . . . To give writing its future .
  . . the birth of the reader must be at the cost
  of the death of the author (148).

3
Ideas to Consider

• Is authorship an obsolete idea?
• How important is the meaning the author intends
  vs. the importance of the meaning the reader
  constructs?
• Barthes is critiquing a tendency to privilege the
  author as the person who creates all meaning. Do
  you think that privilege is warranted?
• Barthes suggests that this privilege is tied to
  capitalist culture (vs. storyteller as medium).
  How does citizen journalism change this dynamic?
  For better or for worse?
• Barthes believes all stories are of culture and
  not of merely of individuals. What do you think
  this means?
• Barthes points out that there is often ambiguity
  about whose voice we are hearing and even
  ambiguity about point of view. Can you give
  examples of this?

4
Review

• What is an expressive narrative structure?
• What is the main problem associated with
  expressive narrative structure in interactive
  fiction and poetry (according to Keith
  Johnstone)?
• What is an impositional narrative structure?
  Can you give examples of this kind of structure?
• What is the main problem associated with
  impositional structures?
• How to strike a balance?
• Suggestion for a collaboration process

5
Needs to Consider

• What are the two defining characteristics of
  interactive media?
• According to Yellowlees Douglas, how does a
  point of closure become defined in interactive
  media?
• places where the projected goals of the
  protagonist involved in a particular narrative
  strand are satisfied, or where the tensions or
  conflicts which have given rise to the narrative
  strand are resolved
• Can you give an example? How might this apply to
  The Psychiatric Hospital for Abused Cuddly
  Toys, for instance?

6
Questions to Consider as you blog

• What is the role of author in interactive
  fiction and poetry?
• To what extent can participants be authors?
• What is a narrative? How can we distinguish
  narrative from nonnarrative?
• Are there alternatives to Douglas points of
  closure that you can think of?
• Are there points of closure in poetry
  (traditional and interactive media)? If so, how
  do they happen?

7
Questions?

• Assignment View The Dumpster at the Whitney
  Museum Artport and blog your opinion about
  whether this is a narrative or nonnarrative.
  Explain your views. Does it have points of
  closure? What is the role of the author who
  programmed it? What roles do participants take?
  Explain.