Foucault's Modern Author Recognition

Michael Foucault explores author-function in the world of literary criticism and theory in What is an Author. His ideas bounce off the theories of Barthes surprisingly well considering they are advocating for the opposite sides of the spectrum, offering a functional counterpoint to give a deeper insight to the way readers interpret. I found it interesting that Foucault compares the author-removal theory to death, as he writes, "Our culture has metamorphosed this idea of narrative, or writing, as something designed to ward off death. Writing has become linked to sacrifice, even to the sacrifice of life: it is now a voluntary effacement which does not need to be represented in books, since it is brought about in the writer's very existence"(905). This seemed to me to be an almost sarcastic retort to theorists like Barthes who claim an author must evaporate away from their writing. Foucault mentions men like Flaubert, Proust, and Kafka who were "destroyed" by their writing (905). Authors become part of what they write and this bond can become destructive when the writing consumes individuality, and Foucault observes this as something quite serious, arguing then that the title of author only be given to those worthy.

His concept of writer versus author is stated concisely as he writes, "An anonymous text posted on a wall probably has a writer - but not an author"(908). An author must be trusted, understood, and analyzed both as a separate and connected function of a piece. This idea of credibility in writing is extremely important today with the increasingly vague concept of credible writing.

Another area that Foucault questions is the area of scientific discourse. Historically, science was based on credibility of an author, which Foucault illustrates saying, "those texts that we now would call scientific - those dealing with cosmology and the heavens, medicine, and illnesses, natural sciences and geography - were accepted in the Middle Ages, and accepted as "true," only when marked with the name of their author"(908). Audiences had to rely on name recognition to be able to trust the piece, much like literature today. As science grew, it began to stand on its own with scientific writers working together for a solidified purpose of scientific advancement, rendering the title of "author" no longer applicable.

Foucault's author-function does a lot to promote the individual in literature in particular, which I think functions much better in our modern reality of the decrease of name recognition in authorship.