Can Death of the Author occur in Fanfiction?

I may need to read to more fan fiction stories but I wonder if Death of the Author analysis can occur in fan fiction?

It's more a perspective than a thing that actually happens, right? Whether or not you decide to give weight to the author's intentions is a decision you make, and I don't see any reason for that to be different with fanfiction.

I guess I'd just recommend being... ah, gentler... with fanfiction, since the author is likely an amateur writing in their free time, for a much smaller audience.

Death Of The Author is a universal constant, as it describes the existence of a fundamental facet of art; the consumer is not obligated to interpret it the way the creator did.

edited 29th Nov '15 5:35:39 PM by Night

Yes.

Purely logically: what Night said.

Practically speaking: fanfic authors are typically much closer to their audience than professional authors are. So it may be harder to ignore the author's interpretation of their work—and if you disagree with the author, you may have a harder time finding other readers who agree that your interpretation has any validity.

This might just be because I'm not a fan of the idea of Death of the Author in general (Because it seems to me that if the Author, the person who wrote the damn thing says "this is how it is", then that's how it is. The Author should know, after all) but I don't see it working?

I mean, you can say what you like about the fanfiction. But if the person who wrote it turns up and tells you you're wrong...well, then, you're wrong, aren't you?

The author can tell you what their intentions were when they wrote the thing, but the reader takes part in creating the meaning of the work for them. I mean, they'd have to.

Besides, we can't assume that authors will always produce exactly what they intended to. If you're reading a story that portrays creepy, abusive and controlling tendencies as romantic, say, and the author comes along and tells you that you're wrong when you say that the relationship they wrote is abusive, because they clearly meant to write an ideal romance... does that make you wrong?

I haven't done that specific example, but many are the times that I've written things that have meanings that I didn't intend. Is it within my power to sweep them all away?

I see your point, I guess. Well, I sort of do. What you said is true, what an author intends when they write something won't always be what other people get out of it. And stories that are intended to be romantic can come across as just plain creepy.

But then again, no matter what interpretation the reader has, the fact remains that the only objectively correct one is the one the author put in there. They wrote it, so they should know. They wrote it with their own interpretation in mind, so it really is the only right answer. The only true meaning in there is what the author put in there.

How do I put it another way? Say I drew a picture of a cat. But I'm a really rubbish artist, so it ends up looking like a turnip. Everybody in the world could say it looks like a turnip, and they'd be right! But the fact would still remain that the picture is not of a turnip. It is of a cat.

...Sorry this was a bit long. I'm trying to explain something that confuses the hell out of me, and also high school English has tainted the subject for me forever. Gah.

I think I get where you're coming from. And from your own perspective as an artist, the fact that you wanted to draw a cat is really important, particularly as you learn to make your turnips more feline.

But from the perspective of random people seeing the picture, who may never even interact with you, it's every bit as useful and interesting to talk about the turnip as it is to talk about the cat.

edited 8th Dec '15 3:17:43 AM by Durazno

I think I get it. Even if they're not strictly accurate (Since to me, the author is still always gonna be the one who knows best about their own work), talking about other interpretations of a work is still useful and interesting. Especially if those interpretations are more popular or more easily reached than the actual one.

In other words, the picture is of a cat, but if everybody else sees a turnip, you might as well talk about the turnip.

If someone writes, say, awfully racist and sexist drivel but he's completely convinced it's a fair representation of minorities and women... that fanfic still is awfully racist and sexist drivel.

Yeah, that's pretty much my understanding.

Though this also means that the cat isn't less important than the turnip, either.

Also a good point. Author's can't dictate the implications of their work for the world beyond it.

In accord with your interpretation, always remember that. Don't mistake your opinion for absolute truth.

edited 10th Dec '15 5:41:38 PM by JusticEqualsVengeance

It's a very frequent type of example in actual fanfiction, and most often those warped views are rather against the overall social standards.

I mean, yeah.

If the author dies.