Lost in Space
Death of the Author is a meta trope about a particular way in which people choose to interpret the meanings of works. Put simply, DOTA asserts that the author's intent is unimportant, or more precisely that the author has no more say in what a work means than the audience.
This philosophy is based on the idea that a work is an independent entity that takes on a life of its own once "born" into the world and exists in the meanings people derive from it regardless of whatever was meant by its creator. If I want to believe that Twilight is a statement about... I don't know, the political situation between North and South Korea, Stephenie Meyer has no right to assert otherwise.
Needless to say, many authors find this rather offensive. There is a certain value in realizing that people will always interpret works in their own way, but most critics and analysts hold that the author's intent is important.
As both a meta and subjective trope, Death of the Author should be limited to examples that are particularly noteworthy and well-documented and serve to illustrate the concept.
edited 26th May '18 5:48:23 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
I'm somewhat confused at how Death of the Author is used. Is it meant to 1) say that "the author's interpretation of the story is as good as the readers/watchers', or 2) be a way to discredit whatever the author say about things that happened in the work, including potential explanation/new info?
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