"What is an Author?" Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault's passage, "What is an Author"is an intriguing piece of work that proposes an answer to what seems like a simple question, what is an author?  The passage is rich with clever findings and perspectives of Foucault's explanation an author and their relationship with their text. Many famous authors, along with their published writings were mentioned and used as examples for analyzations throughout the article.  Foucault's literary examples strengthened his article by adding credibility. The examples aided in understanding main points of the article, and identifying analytical questions brought to attention.

After reading "What is an Author" I felt that one of the main questions Foucault raises is, whether or not there is a significant relationship between the author and their work? When pondering on an answer  I thought of personal experience. When I read a literary text, I may find it interesting to discover information on the author's personal life, if it is significant to that particular piece of literature.  If it is irrelevant, is not important.  Students read books and return to class the next day to discuss and analyze what they read, not the talk about the author.  After reading an author's work, the author merely becomes an "idea" not a person, or in Foucault's words, "the author has disappeared", or "the author is a deadman".

The author's existence simply becomes a mode of circulation and reference.  An author eventually dies, but his/her work keeps the author's name alive. Foucault elaborates on the author's function in four detailed points, concluding that the author is simply a "subject" related to the author's text. The author simply becomes a subject of circulation in society, a name brought up to reference a certain idea portrayed in their writings.  As Foucault concludes, "what difference does it make who is speaking".