Publication
Title
The implied author : a secular excommunication
Author
Abstract
This essay argues that the implied author (IA) is a construction by a reader who is seeking a god-like form of legitimation for his or her interpretation. Pan one develops the analogy between the IA and God by zooming in on the work of Wayne Booth. Part two is more down to earth. A critical review of empirical, sociological and discursive approaches leads us to replace the IA with a dynamic author image produced by the reader in a continually changing process of negotiation involving the text, the context, and the author's self-presentation. The final part of the essay discusses Thomas Pynchon's V, to illustrate this concept of negotiation, which we offer as an alternative to the traditional idea of literature as communication.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Style. - Fayetteville, Ark.
Publication
Fayetteville, Ark. : 2011
ISSN
0039-4238
Volume/pages
45 :1 (2011) , p. 11-28
ISI
000297035500002
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 31.01.2012
Last edited 15.11.2022
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