In Foucault's "What is an Author?" he describes the way that authors have a sphere of discourse surrounding them that connects their works together as well as points to common themes, motifs, ideas and feelings that are associated with their works. Foucault imagined the worlds that were associated with authors at the time he was writing this, but did he imagine what would happen to these spheres of influence that surrounded authors in the years to come? He probably would not be able to imagine the impact of celebrity culture, the internet and the growth of people's personal branding. With the invention of the internet individual people became their own brand with followers, products and projects that span different mediums. What would Foucault think of the effect of the internet on the sphere of an author like Stephanie Meyer? She is an author with a sphere of influence so large because of the popularity of her books, the movies based on her books and the fan fiction written by her admirers.
It is interesting to look at a sphere like Freud’s
sphere where many other authors have reviewed, analyzed and expanded on Freud’s
ideas in an academic way. Then comparing Freud’s sphere to the way Stephanie
Meyers’ fans have taken her ideas and characters and have expanded upon them to
create thousands of pages of fan fiction, even one that was turned into Fifty
Shades of Grey. Even though Foucault was describing this phenomenon long before
the rise of the personal computer, blogs, and the general democratic nature of
the internet made authors’ and even other people like artists, chefs and people
of interest’s spheres of influence into a giant phenomenon. I am interested to
see what Foucault would think of the effect the internet has had on the function
of the author as he relates to the texts and ideas that are associated with
him.
Excellent post: great questions, relevant phenomena referenced.
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