The Story of O and the Modern Author-Function

In the translator's note prefacing one of my favorite French novels, The Story of O by unknown author Pauline Reage, the translator- self-identified as simply "S. d'E."- explains the novel's strange critical reception. d'E writes, "Even in Paris, where scandal is slow to ignite, there was an element of shock in these exchanges- that such a book, such a total anachronism, could appear, full-blown, in the mid-twentieth century. But the real interest centered around the mystery: who was Pauline Reage?" (x). d'E explains, "Until her identity was bared, people found it difficult to assume a reasonable stance vis-a-vis the work; if Pauline was the pseudonym of some eminent writer, they would feel compelled to react one way; if she were a complete unknown, another.." (x).

Here d'E hits on Barthes' supposition that "the image of literature to be found in ordinary culture is tyranically centered on the author, his person, his life, his tastes, his passions... The explanation of a work is always sought in the man or woman who produced it" (875). This fascination with the author's name, the exalted status ascribed to her, is one aspect of Foucault's author-function. Reage's example- and, as d'E reminds us, "To this day, no one knows who Pauline Reage is" (x)- validates Foucault's assertion that, "Since literary anomynity is not tolerable... the author-function today plays an important role in our view of literary works" (909). However, through Reage's example we also see how this imperative of the author-function can be transcended. Though Reage- nom de plume or not- remains unknown, her novel attained widespread acceptance and continues to be a site of critical debate (is it pornography? erotica? or something else altogether?). And as d'E notes- and certainly both Barths and Foucault would agree- "perhaps there is a kind of virtue in this, for we are thus obliged to judge the book itself, uncluttered by any outside considerations. Like O before her judges, the work stands naked and alone" (xiii).