The Death of the Author

The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes describes his views upon literature and those who compose it. Barthes writing is powerful, but I disagree with some of his thoughts. For example, he says: "[...] writing is the destruction of every voice, of every point of origin." I feel that this is completely untrue. Writing can be a constructive outlet; it gives many the opportunity to organize thoughts, and in many cases it gives people voice.


I do, however, agree with one of his main ideas: that one doesn't need to know the background/history of the author to read his/her work(s). The language is all that is important. Language is powerful and moving; it is the language that invokes passions, and great emotions in the reader, not the author.