Death of the Author

We’ve all been there, having sent a quick text only to realise that it could mean the complete opposite of what we intended to say. These events transcend reality and even create an interesting tension in the fiction we consume.

Spider-man lovers will find a prime example of this in the 2018 video game where he texts Mary-Jane ‘Ok. It’s over, btw’. Although referring to a recent battle with a villain, MJ misinterprets the text and thinks he’s ending their relationship.

These types of misinterpretation can be due to three main elements:

1. The physical text

2. The creator’s and audience’s individual bias

3. And the current circumstance, cultural, and/ or historical context

If we go back to poor Spidey, we see that he didn’t preface the ‘it’s over’ with further details. MJ quickly associated it with her text about their relationship and not being ready to talk. So, drawing meaning solely from the text has MJ believing their relationship is over.

But she has also brought her own bias to the conversation and solely reads the text as only relating to their relationship, unaware of Spidey’s current situation.

As the text’s author, Spidey’s immediate situation and his current circumstance is applied to his words but his physical ‘OK. It’s over, btw’ doesn’t reveal any of this. Despite his intention, the actual meaning of his text is lost.

In the words of Roland Barthes, it’s the death of the author.

The death of the author is, basically, the idea that any intentions the author had while writing their story, or any form of text, is gone and the meaning is left for the reader’s interpretation. However, the reader will always bring their own understanding to the text because their bias, current circumstance, culture, and history will not be the same as the author’s.

Do you remember studying Shakespeare in high school? Well, in reality, there’s no way to definitively say that the way we study his plays is even what Shakespeare intended. We can get close to researching his circumstance, culture, and history, but until we ask him ourselves, we could be dead wrong.

This alleviates the strain of being correct when writing essays because as long as you support your argument or understanding of the text with evidence, you can nearly make any text mean whatever you want it to mean. Extra points if you apply evidence to debunk your teacher’s theory!

We can apply this theory to Snow White, the fairest of them all and one of the most iconic fairy tales. However, the traditional tale was slightly different to what Disney distributed.

To summarise an early rendition of the physical text: The Evil Queen and stepmother is jealous of Snow White’s beauty. She leaves the girl stranded in a dark forest which leads to Snow stumbling upon the dwarves’ cottage. They agree to hide her if she becomes the housekeeper and doesn’t answer the door to strangers. That is until the Evil Queen tricks Snow and tightens the girl’s corset so tight that she collapses like she is dead. Snow is then only rescued by the return of her father and his doctors.

There are two major, modern readings that I pull from this story that contradict each other reinforcing the idea that with evidence a story can mean whatever you would like it to.

The first interpretation of the story focuses on the traditional understanding of a woman’s frailty. The Evil Queen is left to solely admire her beauty which is all she is valued for. With such limited value to her King and Kingdom beyond beauty, she removes anyone who might take the position of ‘most beautiful’ away from her.

In the Evil Queen’s attempt to eliminate her competition, we learn that she isn’t the only woman valued solely for her appearance. This leads to a defenceless Snow, unable to find her way home through the forest due to a lack of education.

The lesson, of which, becomes how only valuing a woman as something ‘pretty’ leads to destruction, abuse, and a lack of education.

But, as I said, there is another interpretation I have pulled from the same text.

With the traditional understanding of women’s frailty, we find ourselves in a story where a woman must use her instincts. Although valued only as a ‘pretty thing’ throughout her life as royalty, Snow is willing to push through adverse situations and hardship until she finds a safe haven. She doesn’t take the dwarves’ house for granted, doesn’t demand elevation due to stature or beauty, but aims to apply herself in repaying their kindness.

The lesson, of which, becomes how any woman is more than beauty and is someone possible of great instincts and determination.

Do you see how one interpretation highlights the idea of a damsel in distress, while the other is more about an independent, intuitive woman?

Both of these come from my own bias as well as my circumstance, culture, and history. But what was the author’s intention?

Fairy tales are interesting texts, stories originally told orally and possibly used as warnings for little village children. The only reason why we have these stories in written form is because brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm collected and compiled Germany’s folklore and turned them into a written work titled Kinder-und Hausmarchen, which translates as Children’s and Household Tales

After various studies and hardships, they actually broke new ground in German Literature study, which was a very new field of study at their university.

But they weren’t the actual authors. These stories were already folklore in Germany and the Brothers’ written stories could change with each new collection they released due to the different versions that would be sent to them.

Which is why Snow White has various renditions.

If we compare two published variations of their Snow White, we see that in one version she’s left in the forest, and in the other, a Huntsman is hired to kill her.

But if we were to reach back into the history of this story, we find accounts that this could be based on two different true stories. It could also be connected to the Greek mythology that surrounds Chione, a name which also means snow and a story that varies as much as Snow White’s.

Studying the history of Germany could also bring us closer to understanding the original author’s intentions, but even then, how do we know the author was German? With folklore being passed on through word of mouth, there’s no way to really find the original author.

So, not only is the author physically dead, his intentions and reasoning behind the story are gone as well. Was Snow White to warn children of strangers? Denounce Vanity? Or was it simply entertainment made for one’s children?

Whatever the reason, we know that when we read a text, we’re applying our own context. Because the author’s dead. Spider-man’s dead. Even I’m dead… figuratively. This article is up for your interpretation. Whatever my intentions are will most probably be lost to the reader’s bias.

The idea of an author’s untimely demise in every written text is a lesson we should apply in the current age of written digital communication. It’s something we need to be aware of, whether we’re the author or the reader. The intention behind someone’s tweet, post, or text won’t always mean what we think it does at first glance. So be careful when you read things, because you never know who you might be killing.

Featured Image: Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

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