caught my attention over everything else. "Death of the Author" just sounds so sad and scary, but with recent technological innovations which allow "readers (to) actively (re)shape texts they encounter" (p.85), it is more and more difficult to authenticate text. So the idea of authorship is something that will be constantly changing in the future. I know that some writers have no problem sharing their work online in the form of blogs and online critique groups, but others are quite wary of sending their work into cyberspace for fear of it becoming community property. It's an interesting dilemma.
The question I keep thinking about, however, is "whether there are universal language/thought structures that allow the transfer of meaning from one to another language, or whether texts are so culture-specific that something is always lost in translation" (Benjamin, 1996,; Chomsky, 2002; House, 2002; as cited in Bazerman, 2008, p. 86). I know that there is not always a word for word translation available, but I never really thought about meaning ALWAYS being lost in some way. It makes sense, though, when I compare the idea to what I know to be true regarding sign language interpretation. Having been a teacher of the deaf and fluent signer, I know the difficulties that exist when trying to transfer meaning from a spoken to a visual representation or vice versa. Most people who are unfamiliar with signing don't truly understand that meaning from a spoken/written language can never truly be transferred EXACTLY to a visual one. That's why it's called 'interpreting.'
I don't have any answers, I just found these two ideas interesting. I'll have to keep them rolling around my brain for awhile.
Karen, I share the same concerns as you do with regards to "death of the author." However, this is not a new phenomenon. During the Golden Age of Literature in Spain in 17th century plays were constantly being modified on stage by the "author" who was actually the director. Also, in Cervantes' Don Quixote, there is a self-reflective passage that alludes to Cervantes "borrowing" ideas from an unpublished Arabian transcript. Is intertextuality "stealing?" As far as putting things online, I am one of the wary ones. I'm even afraid to put a review of Dr. Dowdy's new book Connecting the Literacy Puzzle on our wiki for fear of someone "stealing" it!
ReplyDeleteYou're right that some people are "wary of sending their work into cyberspace." I'm one of them. When I know that my blog is being read by my professor, classmates, husband,and possibly my mother and future employers, I find myself censoring my writing. And don't even get me started on the implication of one's writing thanks to the Patriot Act!
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