Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author

The French literary theorist Roland Barthes cuts an interesting figure. In his early scholarly activities he was a conventional scholar, very much committed to the humanistic universal grammatical project of Ferdinand de Saussure. But in his latter years he was an iconoclastic figure who who questioned the entire legitimacy of secular humanism.
The French poststructuralists often make the quasi-formalist claim that there is no 'hors de texte.' But whereas the New Critic does so in order to seek to establish literature as a legitimate field of academic study in an academy which is elsewhere disputing the objectivity of moral and aesthetic judgments, for the French poststructuralists the claim is made because of a quasi-nominalist view of language. Words refer only to other words, not to any thing, let alone a transcendental signifier.
And whereas Jacques Derrida could be very much be seen at war with the word, in the sense that the focus of his work was in demonstrating how language undermines its own claims of certitude, Barthes takes this self-referential view of language to dispute whether we can even establish the personhood of the author. After all, it lies outside the text. In so doing, he announces that the nineteenth century's tendency to announce the 'death of God' has now come closer to home, announcing the death of humanity.
Henceforward, we can note an anti-humanistic tendency to all postmodern literary theory, with a particular focus on the Christian category of the human person.
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[@sekritskwirl6106]

Gives new "meaning" to the phrase "empty words". What an amazing and important lecture!

[@katieoreilly8716]

Sending a thank you from the Emerald Isle …

[@noamlabounty7797]

Thank you for these lectures Dr. Masson. Very informative and helpful.

[@sauraveazaad5999]

i cannot say anything but a big thank you for the charity...

[@BardSonic]

This is a fantastic lecture sir.

[@drbonesshow1]

Barthes who wrote about laundry detergent was hit by a laundry truck while walking home and later dying from his injuries.

[@LitProf]

It was a clean hit.

[@jondaly4501]

@@LitProf
This reminds me of one of the plots of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. There was a character who isolated his son in order to see if he would speak an Adamic language.

[@LitProf]

Very funny.
Less humorously, I think one of the Russian tsars, influenced by Romantic ideas of the origins of language, did the same with orphans. They were fed but never held or spoken to.
Of course the children died because they were unloved.

[@drbonesshow1]

@@LitProf Never be unloved. To those who treat others in such a way: "Kick 'em in the teeth," as an old friend used to say.

[@jondaly4501]

@@LitProf I watched this video in hope of catching something about Writing Degree Zero. I've been intrigued lately by McLuhan and Postman and thought, perhaps mistakenly, that there was a connection between technology and less ornamentation in language.

[@czarquetzal8344]

In the Supreme Court, there are two ways to interpret laws: 1. Verba Legis ( literal interpretation of the laws without ambiguities) and ratio legis (interpretation based on the intention of legislators). Imagine if the basis of the court hermeneutics is Derrida" Deconstruction and Barthes' version of Post-Structuralism, hehehe.
Because of the French intellectuals, literary criticism became more complicated than ever. There is only one legacy that I appreciate from them: the French kiss., Hahaha 🤣

[@seanrobbins3855]

I never thought I would find in lit theory, such a contested battleground of our modern world. This lecture has given me new insight into the upside down world of the ulta progressives. Great stuff Dr. Mason!

[@MsAnkhaa]

Thanks for your good lecture:)

[@LitProf]

You're very welcome!

[@miladsamiraziz6941]

Appreciate it 👍
I have an assignment on Structuralism and " The Death of the Author "

[@the.digitalrenaissance]

hello there, can i ask you some questions about the death of the author? i also have an assignment and if you help me about that i would be so happy.
my instagram is: @sinankunacaf
i will be waiting for your message.

[@LitProf]

Sorry, just saw this.

[@miladsamiraziz6941]

@@LitProf
Never mind, Sir.

[@mkstamp9547]

It’s interesting that the argument they are making is that language is meaningless and puts to death the author and personhood in the text. I wonder if this is what God meant when He said the “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Without the voice, the saying with your mouth, it is just letter that is dead without the Spirit. Thoughts?

[@LitProf]

Yes, it is part of the binary dynamic I discuss in the lecture I am releasing tomorrow.

[@daveduhre5088]

Do you believe in the symbolic myth of Adam and Eve?

[@LitProf]

I believe there was an Adam and Eve.

[@rangecow]

Teleological semen - by your argument, man would be constantly seeking women to impregnate. There would never be enough women to bear potential lives. There is just too much semen.