Analysing 'The Death of the Author' (8/10/2013)

'The Death of the Author' as written by Roland Bathes (1968) I felt wasn't the best read. Like the previous paper 'Viewers Make Meaning' I felt the subject matter was interesting, but the way the writing was phrased and its vast amount of examples overshadowed what the content was meant to be about, and in general made the read longer than it had to be.

That said, I feel that Bathes in a nutshell was trying to say that, just like the artist, it's not up to the writer to decide what the meaning is, it is up to the reader since different narratives will mean different things to whoever reads it. For example, an analytical person might read a poem about a blue curtain and think the blue represents sadness. Whereas the poet's intention was to merely write a poem on a curtain that just happened to be the colour blue. Obviously this can also be vise versa.  

Although I was asked to anaylse this paper, I feel that I can not agree with it. No artist or writer sets out to create something without meaning. Yes, the viewer can interpret it all they like, but the creator always means to try and provoke something from their work. Whether it be something as simple as making someone think something a character in a comic book does is cool, or trying to provoke the horrors of war in a best selling novel through the experiences of a solider.
At the same time though, it is up to the reader to decide for themselves if they like the characters/stories or not and whether they empathise with their situation, which might depend on many things such as the reader's age, gender, ethnicity, background or culture etc. This being said, I feel that readers will always gravitate towards reading the things that best match their interests and their experiences, unless they are reading things they have been asked to read for specific purposes.
Of course, some types of writing need to be read more accurately than others e.g. recipes and instructions.

Still, if all writers work were interpreted in the same way then things would be boring. Yes, it is sad for a writer to see someone doesn't like their work. Yet someone else will love it. Perhaps this is just like what we discussed before where a photograph is only perceived the same way by viewers who have similar experiences, thus linking more closely to my previous paragraph. 

Overall, from reading this I have thought about my own writing and now understand that when you are writing for a certain genre, then you should include elements of things that its likely demographic will have experienced or feel strongly about. Thus not only appealing to them, but also making them feel those connected emotions and decide for themselves what the narrative means to them.