Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

death of the author

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.82 in modern English

Syllables
death of the au-thor
IPA
29
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A technique of literary analysis that disregards authorial intent, focusing only on the text.

Uncountable

Etymology

Calque of French la mort de l'auteur, the title of a 1967 essay by the French literary critic and theorist Roland Barthes (1915–1980).

Usage

Questions

What does death of the author mean?
A technique of literary analysis that disregards authorial intent, focusing only on the text.
Where does death of the author come from?
Calque of French la mort de l'auteur, the title of a 1967 essay by the French literary critic and theorist Roland Barthes (1915–1980).

How to pronounce death of the author

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “death of the author”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “death of the author”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “death of the author” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.