Thread: Death of the aurthor and the Willingness to Consume Media

Hello all! Recently I've been dwelling on the Death of an Author, as well as separation of the artist from their art, and just how much it can affect how one perceives and derives meaning from as well as consumes media. That and I hadn't seen a thread pertaining to this particular subject open for discussion. I figured I'd amend that, however if I'm asked by mods to remove this thread, I will do so. For those of you who aren't aware The basic concept of the death of an author is that an author's political views, identity, religion, historical context, etc. cannot be used when deriving meaning from a creative work. This is especially prominent if said work doesn't expressly state that any of those factors have meaning. A few examples of this would pertain to Orson Scott Card's views on homosexuality, Or H.P. Lovecraft's various political views that were a product from his time. In addition the death of an author can be applied to any information a creator posts about their work that was not made explicit within the work itself. An prominent example of this in popular culture would be J.K. Rowling stating Dumbledore is gay after the completion of the Harry potter series, yet it is never addressed explicitly within the content of the books. In summary, it is basically is an argument to negate any outside information that could pertain to a work, and judge and derive meaning from the creative piece solely by the piece itself. For those of you who want a little further reading on the subject I direct you to a couple short articles. A short summary Death of an Author Barhes' The Death of the Author analysis Separation of an artist from their art is a simpler subject, but one that raises issues of morality and ethics. If one were to know that a creator had done something or believed in something morally wrong, yet could still judge their work objectively without considering the artists actions, then they can separate the art from the artist. However, it raises the moral question of weather it was right for them to due so due to the artists actions and beliefs, and makes us ask if doing so condones the actions of the artist, especially if it's especially morally taboo. For examples I direct you once again to the examples I stated in my rundown of Death of an Author, yet also point to more recent events such as Bill Cosbys sexual assault trials. There's a poll at the beginning you can answer should you wish. Truthfully anyone can respond, even if they don't chime in with a more cohesive response below. However, the poll is set to close in 30 months automatically, despite my own doubts that this subject will actually be active for that long. That being said, I also have a few more questions for those of you who are reading this and want to chime in Do you as a person consider what you know of an creator before consuming a piece of media? Has finding out something you didn't know about a creator you liked changed your views about them, and furthermore, their creations? Have you ever known something about a creator but chose to consume their work anyways, regardless of how bad that particular bit of information was? Do you personally believe in Separation of an artist from their art, and that a creative piece should only be judged by it's content and nothing else? Do you believe in death of an author, and that meaning should only be derived from a piece? Has the historical context from which a piece was written changed your personal interpretation of a piece? Has the writers race, religion, or views changed your interpretation? Below I will be answering my own questions to get the ball rolling on this discussion. My answers are not definitive on the subject, and should not be viewed as the end all be all when it comes to the topic. Simply put these are my opinions, and that is all they are. I rarely know much about the content creators who make media to really judge them ahead of time. Usually when I do find out information about a creator, it's after I've consumed their work, and generally because I began seeking out other things by them. In the off chance I do know beforehand, it's usually due to classes or reading things in the news. Yes. My views considering creators have changed due to finding out something of their past when they were charged for possessing child pornography. I since have switched to consuming media by said artist illegally through various means, despite knowing there were more people who worked on the project besides the bad apple who were deserving of my coin. I still consume the content, but I've simply distanced myself to avoid lining one person's pockets for something I deem horrid. Yes, but it's a rare event. Generally it happens with classes or when a piece is recommended to me from a friend and we talk beforehand about it. Yes. An creator does just that, create. Who are we to judge their works based on their personal views and actions, when their work had little to do with such things. Unless the creator brought their personal experiences and beliefs into the piece personally, then let the work speak for itself. I by no means condone their actions if something they've done is foul, but I don't want to consider it in my critiques. The meaning of a piece is interpretive, and will vary from person to person. If we all had the same takeaway from.every piece of art, there'd be no variety in our view points. Thus I believe that death of the Author is a mixed bag. Knowing the context in which one lived can greatly change what one takes away from a piece, and that's okay in my book. Yes. Much as I hate to say it, it has affected my perception of meaning, specifically if I know ahead of time. It usually has to do with the time period from which a piece was created, as opposed to an author's sexracereligionthough those things have affected my perceptions, but the context of time has changed the meanings of pieces the most, particularly when I relate them to how things have changed due to the modern world. Due to a mistake on my end pointed out by MisterKing , I have edited the above text heavily to better reflect what i actually meant. I will be perserving the original text below, for those of you who want to read it. original text Hello all! Recently I've been dwelling on the Death of an Author and just how much it can affect how one percieves and consumes media. That and I hadn't seen a thread pertaining to this particular subject open for discussion. I figured I'd amend that, however if I'm asked by mods to remove this thread, I will do so. For those of you who aren't aware The basic concept of the death of an author is that an authors political views, identity, religion, historical context, etc. cannot be used when deriving both meaning and criticism upon a creative work. This is especially prominent if said work doesn't expressly state that any of those factors have meaning. A few examples of this would pertain to Orson Scott Card's views on homosexuality, Or H.P. Lovecraft's various political views. In addition the death of an author can be applied to any information a creator posts about their work that was not made explicit within the work itself. An prominent example of this in popular culture would be J.K. Rowling stating Dumbledore is gay after the completion of the Harry potter series, yet it is never addressed explicitly within the content of the books. In summary, it is basically is an argument to negate any outside information that could pertain to a work, and judge and derive meaning from the creative piece solely by the piece itself. For those of you who want a little further reading on the subject I direct you to a couple short articles. A short summary Death of an Author Barhes' The Death of the Author analysis There's a poll at the beginning you can answer should you wish. Truthfully anyone can respond, even if they don't chime in with a more cohesive response below. However, the poll is set to close in 30 months automatically, despite my own doubts that this subject will actually be active for that long. That being said, I also have a few more questions for those of you who are reading this and want to chime in Do you as a person consider what you know of an creator before consuming a piece of media? Has finding out something you didn't know about a creator you liked changed your views about them, and furthermore, their creations? Have you ever known something about an creator but chose to consume their work anyways, regardless of how bad that particular bit of information was? Do you personally believe in Death of an Author, and that a creative piece should only be judged by it's content and nothing else? Below I will be answering my own questions to get the ball rolling on this discussion. My answers are not definitive on the subject, and should not be viewed as the end all be all when it comes to the topic. Simply put these are my opinions, and that is all they are. I rarely know much about the content creators who make media to really judge them ahead of time. Usually when I do find out information about a creator, it's after I've consumed their work, and generally because I began seeking out other things by them. Yes. My views considering creators have changed due to finding out something of their past when they were charged for possessing child pornography. I since have switched to consuming media by said artist illegally through various means, despite knowing there were more people who worked on the project besides the bad apple who were deserving of my coin. I still consume the content, but I've simply distanced myself to avoid lining one person's pockets for something I deem horrid. Yes, but it's a rare event. Generally it happens with classes or when a piece is recommended to me from a friend and we talk beforehand about it. Yes. An creator does just that, create. Who are we to judge their works based on their personal views and experiences, when their work had little to do with such things. Unless the creator brought their personal experiences and beliefs into the piece personally, then let the work speak for itself. Last edited Jan 29, 2019