Barthes' argument in The Death of the Author

The Function of Subject as Signified

Barthes’ argument in The Death of the Author, as it is clarified by

the structuralist approach of Ferdinand de Saussure and the

manifestations of his linguistic system adapted by Jacques Lacan and

Jacques Derrida, is composed of an ultimate dismissal of the

signification of a text in favor of the ratification of the function of the

subject. Once this function is ascertained, Barthes shifts his impetus to

the antiquation of the author’s place in general. The function of the

subject that Barthes concludes is the concatenation of the signifier of a

text for the purpose of the unification of its constitution.

The application of Ferdinand de Saussure’s theories to Barthes’

notion and in general to literary critique, as evident from his study in

the realm of semiotics in his Course in General Linguistics, is related to

the complexity of the sign within the bounds of the arbitrary nature

between signifier and signified. The meaning of an arbitrary relation

between signifier and signified is concretely discursive. External of

Saussure’s semiotic commitment, this study influenced the writings of

Lacan and Derrida, who conscribe to this principle of capricious

relativity in their discourses. (Ungar xii)

Within the scope of Saussurean theory, a viewpoint can be

ascertained that is conceptualized for applicability to The Death of the

Author. Saussure begins his introduction to this topic by defining

language in a way that concurs with Barthes’ use of it. Language, as

the “social side of speech, outside the individual who can never create

or modify it by himself.” This is concomitant with Barthes’ work,

particularly in his concept of the author as the subject of a text. Barthes

s...

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2001. 1466-1470.

Burke, Sean. The Death and Return of the Author: Criticism and Subjectivity in

Barthes, Foucault, and Derrida. Edinburgh, England: Edinburgh University

Press, 1992.

Derrida, Jacques. “Of Grammatology.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.

Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. 1822-

1830.

Lacan, Jacques. “The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious.” The Norton Anthology

of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York, NY: W.W. Norton

& Company, 2001. 1290-1302.

Saussure, Ferdinand de. “Course in General Linguistics.” The Norton Anthology of

Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &

Company, 2001. 960-977.

Ungar, Steven and Betty R. McGraw. “Introduction.” Signs in Culture: Roland Barthes

Today. Ed. Steven Ungar. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 1989.