Abstract
This chapter outlines a history of ‘the author’, of our author-centric attitudes in academia and popular culture. It focuses on a period from the romantics to the present day, hinging on the death of the author: referring to both a general shift away from the author that (may or may not have) occurred in theory and criticism between the late 1960s and early 1990s, and the specific 1967 essay ‘The Death of the Author’ by Roland Barthes. The chapter is structured around three developments in literary criticism: how the figure of the author gained importance in nineteenth-century romanticism, how that positioning was rejected by the poststructuralism of the 1960s, and how such rejection has been received since. Overall, this chapter endeavours to show how our understanding of the points of connection between author, reader, and text remains unsettled.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
