The Death of the Author

The Death of the Author was wildly thought-provoking and inspiring, and heightened my understanding of Fluxus.  The Death of the Author leading to the Birth of the Reader is profound, because I had never realized that before the modern day writer, the reader is always secondary to the writer, a kind of afterthought.  Yet, readers give power and life to the author's words: they analyze the author's thoughts, and without the ability to read, words are reduced to nothing.  I never thought that whenever I read a book, it is to hear someone else's story and escape to a different world, and writing is a personal activity involving documenting one's life, thoughts, and observation.  There is a beauty in that, but at the same time, the "birth of the reader" and the reader's rise to a role that equivalents the importance of the author is beautiful as well.  The modern writer removes himself completely, erasing a hidden meaning in his words, realizing he is not original, but his words (and they are merely that, words with no hidden agenda) derive from a "readymade dictionary."  Even the author's choice of saying the modern "writer"instead of "author" is intriguing, as if the word "author" has such a strong connotation as one of a God-like creator and thought documenter, the modern "writer" and practice of writing must be removed from that completely.  At the bottom of page 4, Ronald Barthes says the writer must "combine different types of writing"from this "Readymade dictionary," which reminds me of the intermedia and use of everyday materials of the Fluxus movement.  It was fascinating to read that critiques of an Author's work usually involve critiquing the man himself, rather than the words, which is so true.  I was reminded of Hollywood, and how celebrities are often criticized for who they are as people rather than artists.  Lastly, the idea that the Author and his work is viewed by the public as a work of the past about the past is moving with its truth.  The modern writer's removal from this, to create a comprehensive work that moves with time and doesn't involve the reader to analyze is an inspiring artistic notion that I will be more aware of when creating my work.