The Death of the Author: WTF? Roland Barthes' Death of the Author Explained | Tom Nicholas Video

Roland Barthes’ The Death of the Author is a seminal text in the development of literary theory. Often considered the moment when structuralism gave way to poststructuralism as the dominant approach to cultural analysis, in The Death of the Author, Roland Barthes argues not only that we should not place too much emphasis on authorial intent when analysing a cultural text but also that the popular conception of the act of authorship might be altogether wrong.

In this episode of What The Theory?, I aim to provide a Death of the Author summary and analysis both drawing out key ideas from Barthes’ essay and considering what the ramifications might be for how we analyse or read a text.

Further Reading

Image Music Text by Roland Barthes (includes The Death of the Author)
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UK: https://amzn.to/2TRXFar

Mythologies by Roland Barthes (a fantastic and truly accessible example of structuralist analysis)
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UK: https://amzn.to/2TTc6L7

Barthes: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Culler
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UK: https://amzn.to/2COC25a

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

If you’ve enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

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