Authorship

John Everett Millais, Ophelia, c. 1851, oil on canvas, Tate Britain, London

 

This week we talked about authorship and the death of the author. I thought about what authorship is, and what it means to me. I love reading. I read around 20 books a year. I also love writing. I write during my free time and as a child I grew up writing stories for fun. I also love to draw and paint and doodle. All of these things are ways to express myself. People use writing and drawing as forms of self-expression. When an author writes, people read. The author can put emotion into their words for people to understand the feelings behind the writing. I find when I read, I can hear the voice through the pages. It is why I enjoy reading so much. I also find it to be the same for art. Painting and drawing are both forms of expression as well. People paint their emotions and feelings in a similar manner to writing. The main difference being that painting is visual and writing is not. In paintings, the use of color, techniques, and styles can all help express emotions. If the painting is really dark and somber, you may feel sad viewing it. If you see a light colored and flowy piece, it may make you feel happy. There are many ways you can express feelings and thoughts without doing it verbally. 

 

This is why I chose Ophelia, painted by John Everett Millais. I found this painting to be full of emotion. The expression on the woman’s face is a state of agony, or at least that is how I perceive it. Her mouth is ajar, and her head is tilted up. She is lying in a body of water with greenery around her. The positioning of her body shows emotions as well. I found this painting’s color choice to be almost serene, as well as the style choices Millais made. This is a beautiful painting and I believe the interpretations are unlimited. 

 

However, verbally expressing your thoughts is also a very special privilege. Speaking is the main way one can express anything. Your voice and tone are incredibly important. If you are angry, you can raise your voice and if you are happy you can smile. Your facial expressions also allow you to show emotions. If you eat something disgusting, you can scrunch your nose, if you adore someone your pupils dilate. All of these movements and words mean something. Writing essentially takes away your voice. 

 

“We shall never know, for the good reason that writing is the destruction of every voice, of every point of origin.” – Roland Barthes

 

This quote from Barthes was what inspired me to really think about writing and what it means. When Barthes says, “We shall never know,” he is explaining how in writing, you may never know the truth, only what is being written. To say writing is the “destruction” of voice is a loaded statement, but I can see where Barthes is coming from. Many times, when I read books from one point perspective, for example A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, I only see the singular viewpoint of that one character. I remember my friend Emily telling me that further into the series, which is five books as of now, the main character is unreliable. Feyre, the main character viewpoint in book one, is a young girl the age of 18. She describes her mother and sisters in one way, the only way you understand them to be as the reader. However, during book number five, you read from one of the sister’s points of view. Nesta, the eldest sister, explains how Feyre misunderstands her and how Feyre never knew her mother as the true woman she was. Your opinions as a reader completely change just by hearing another character’s story. This can go for any writing. When one person says one thing, writes it down, and another person says the complete opposite, who do you believe? 

 

“As soon as a fact is narrated no longer with a view to acting directly on reality but intransitively, that is to say, finally outside of any function other than that of the very practice of the symbol itself, this disconnection occurs, the voice loses its origin, the author enters into his own death, writing begins.” – Roland Barthes

 

Following my earlier connections, this quote from Barthes explains that voice loses its origin when a fact is no longer narrated how it is intended. There becomes a disconnect from the author and his voice. When the quote states, “… the author enters into his own death,” is Barthes viewpoint on the matter. He feels so drastically to use death as a metaphor for the loss of voice. 

Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author,” in Image, Music, Text (London: Fontana, 1967), 148.