"What Is an Author?" by Michel Foucault
From RhetorClick
In his article, Foucault explores the role of the author in our society today and in the past. He first discusses the idea of a work - what constitutes it? He asks, “What is necessary to its composition, if a work is not something written by a person called an “author”? “ (181). He explores the idea that if someone is considered an “author” then what defines what is or is not their work: what about “an address, or a laundry bill, should this be included in his works?” (181). Foucault later discusses the difference between the use of a proper name and an author’s name. He argues that they do not function in the same way; instead the author’s name is used for reference to refer to his pieces and is regarded in the same manner as his work. Foucault spends a considerable amount of time discussing what he calls “author-function.” Here he lists and argues a number of ways the “author” does and does not function in discourse. He makes a point of recognizing that by limiting it to discourse he is giving the definition of “author” a very “narrow meaning” (188). Foucault closes his article by encouraging others to continue his work, as he believes it to beneficial in revealing more about discourse and it’s relationship in society.
