What does it matter who is speaking?

In response to T.S. Eliot's Tradition and the Individual Talent, Roland Barthe's, in The Death of an Author, proposes that a "text's unity lies not in its origin but in its destination" (148). It is the reader, rather than the author, that gives meaning to a text. But if this is true, then can we forget the author entirely and, therefore, forget the context in which his or her words were written? Can we look solely at the words in The Custom-House sketch and take it seriously when Hawthorne wrote them as satire? No. Of course it is possible to make an interpretation (psychological, gender-based, etc. . .) of the text itself if one chooses, but to ignore the historical context would erase the original purpose. It is quite possible that one could make a fool of oneself by quoting a phrase or using a symbol that actually means the opposite. Maybe this doesn't matter. We use Dr. Martin Luther King Junior as a symbol for Civil Rights and to promote American tradition, yet the concept of using him as such demotes what the man stood for. Maybe, as long as we take meaning from the words, it doesn't matter what the author originally intended for his work because we can use it for our own purpose.

Even if Barthes had agreed with Eliot, Hawthorne's sketch and Danticat's  Create Dangerously show us that pinpointing an author's intended meaning and context can be an impossible task. Hawthorne teases his readers with an image of himself that he claims to be true, but then he shows us that we will never know his true-self. Danticat presents the idea of the immigrant writer. Her friend, a Haitian novelist, published a book called I am a Japanese Writer. And when asked if he is a Haitian or Japanese writer he replied, ". . .I took the nationality of my reader, which means that when a Japanese reader reads my books, I immediately become a Japanese writer."

It would seem that the author is indeed dead. It is possible to grasp a text without considering the origin. But does the author really hold no importance? In What is an Author, by Foucault, he says that "if we proved that Shakespeare did not write those sonnets which pass for his, that would constitute a significant change and affect the manner in which the author's name functions," and thereby, his work. With this, I think that the author does hold significance for a text and for the readers because it is how they classify and authenticate what they are ingesting. Although this proposition may not hold absolutely necessary, it is one of the functions of an author.

For example, the popular "reality" television series The Hills follows the personal lives of several young adults living in Los Angeles, California. Many a fan did defend the authenticity of the word "reality" and consumed the show as a "real" depiction of protagonists' lives. Others were less convinced and claimed that the young adults in the show were not the authors, or writers, of their own lines and circumstances. They claimed that a production team was behind everything. Possibly a little research could have cleared this up for many, but so many were enthralled with the experience of watching this "reality" show that they neglected to do so. Even if they knew that some aspects of the show were fake, they still clung to the word reality.

On the last season finale, the truth of the reality show was blatantly revealed and, shockingly, many couldn't believe it. This sharp reality (pun intended) hits the viewer just after they finish a nostalgic slide-show of past moments on the show. So can the concept of the author still affect readers/watchers? Discovering that the reality series was not so real changed the context in which the fans experienced the show. The "author" of the series was no longer the person on the show but a writer behind a desk. The author can still matter, to an audience of reality shows anyway. This is recognizable in the way that E News! has advertised the "scandal" that suggests the reality show The Jersey Shore may be scripted.

Below is a clip from the last episode of The Hills. Wait for the moment at 1 min and 10 seconds. If you wish, you may skip to this part.