Foucault’s “What is an Author” seems to tangle with the notion of an author being something of a creation of the reader’s mind more than something that dictates the work that has been authored. If you go to a book store and look for a book you’ll most often find that they are grouped in a first order by genre, then by author instead of by subject matter. Would you ever think of going to Barnes & Noble looking for IT in the evil clown/demon section? NO! You’d ask where they keep the Stephen King. Foucault basically wants to find out why authors are set apart from the rest of humanity and what purpose an author really has.
With all the functions he presents the author as having and the many hats an author may wear, I don’t see why he thinks the author function will be phased back out and will no longer be the big issue for readers that he sees it as being now. It seems to me that we are at a point where we want as much authorship as we can get, if nothing else to know where to trace what we just read to and, if need be, place blame where blame belongs.
