'Night makes a fool of us in Daylight'

Shhhhh if you listen closely you can hear the whole Doctor Who fandom simultaneously exclaim wtf

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:14:04 -0400

doctorwho: Matt Smith and David Tennant Behind the Scenes of...

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:03:26 -0400

Matt Smith and David Tennant Behind the Scenes of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special!

Here it is. Matt and David discuss life as The Doctor!

Thanks to everyone who worked really hard to keep the secret.

(And big thanks to the Doctor Who Facebook Page for helping get this to us earlier than we thought we’d have it. Go follow them if you aren’t already.)

wynndy: Following the path on a chilly morning.

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:25:28 -0400

wynndy:

Following the path on a chilly morning.

the-library-and-step-on-it: In 1968, Roland Barthes wrote an...

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:21:54 -0400

the-library-and-step-on-it:

In 1968, Roland Barthes wrote an essay called “Death of the Author,” which was a landmark in the move from structuralism to post-structuralism. According to Barthes, an author should not claim absolute authority over his or her text:

To give a text an Author is to impose a limit on that text, to furnish it with a final signified, to close the writing […]

It was up to the literary critics to liberate works from their authors, and open up the floor to the reader, creating a sort of ‘collective authorship.’ Writing, according to Barthes, does not originate from a single fixed source, but is unfinished until it’s read. Every reading writes the text anew, because every reader interprets it differently. Barthes writes:

a text is not a line of words releasing a single ‘theological’ meaning (the ‘message’ of the Author-God) but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash.

So what does this mean? According to Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory, the death of the author is

a rhetorical way of asserting the independence of the literary text and its immunity to the possibility of being unified or limited by any notion of what the author might have intended, or ‘crafted’ into the work. Instead, the essay makes a declaration of radical textual independence: the work is not determined by intention, or context. Rather, the text is free by its very nature of all such restraints. Hence, as Barthes says in the essay, the corollary of the death of the author is the birth of the reader.

Barthes thus saw the death of the author as emancipatory: why should anyone have the final say on what a book “means”? In his view, the author is not an Author-god, but a ‘scriptor,’ someone who produces the work, but is not more equipped than anyone else to interpret it. Practically speaking, authors may not be available or willing to talk about “what they meant.” The information we have on the author’s background may be inaccurate, and might be interpreted differently by another critic. On top of that, since authors are people too, they are inconsistent sources of information: they may not be aware of why they made certain decisions, or change their mind on the work over time. Thus, we should not judge a book by its author, but by its use of language and its impressions on the reader.

Barthes is not saying that the author’s biography is completely irrelevant in literary analysis, but that it is just one of many possible interpretations, and not necessarily the right one: just because the author said it means X, doesn’t make it so. This doesn’t mean that every interpretation is equally valid either. If your reading is based on flawed reasoning or false information, it’s still bad criticism.

FURTHER READING:

Asimov, Isaac. “The Immortal Bard.”

In this short story, Shakespeare flunks a present-day class on his own works.

Borges, Jorge Luis. “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quichote” (Labyrinths).

This short story is a fictional analysis of the work of an imaginary author, Pierre Menard, who decided to write a book that concides word for word with Don Quichote by Miguel de Cervantes. Because the critic interprets Don Quichote using the biography of a different author, he comes up with a reading that is unlike any other work of Cervantes criticism (there are mentions of Nietzsche involved). It’s geekily hilarious.

More Literary Theory 101 here!

Do you have a question/suggestion/correction? Leave it here!

Look who i rode home with… Why hello there beautiful!! (x)

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:43:28 -0400

Look who i rode home with… Why hello there beautiful!! (x)

wevealllefttheden: therhumboogie: By Christian Hopkins, this...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:39:37 -0400

wevealllefttheden:

therhumboogie:

By Christian Hopkins, this very talented young photographer uses his photography as a true artistic outlet to help with his depression. The whole set of images are just stunning and really draw you in, a perfect example of how art can help a person having a difficult time to express themselves.

Calvin Klein is releasing a new fragrance, “Downtown”...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:33:01 -0400

Calvin Klein is releasing a new fragrance, “Downtown” featuring Rooney Mara as the face of the campaign as photographed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino and TV spot shot by David Fincher and inspired by a young woman living in her own world, breaking away from the “expected”

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:26:28 -0400

erebusodora: This is so incredible that I can’t keep from...

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:02:22 -0400

erebusodora:

This is so incredible that I can’t keep from reblogging this)))

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:58:26 -0400

rudeandgingersansa: game-of-style: quaitheofasshai: you are...

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:54:09 -0400

rudeandgingersansa:

game-of-style:

quaitheofasshai:

you are ALL invited

LETS GET THE PARTY STARTED

OH MY GOD NO

I can hear ’reins of Castamere’ in the back. NOT COOl, though.

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:51:54 -0400

marykay1880: ineslovesdc: mccnshine: Links for bored people. You’re welcome. For the artist For...

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:52:10 -0400

marykay1880:

ineslovesdc:

mccnshine:

Links for bored people. You’re welcome.

For the artist

For the “chill” folk

For those who want to waste a good minute

For the traveler

For the music lover

For the writer

For those who want to be inspired.

For those who seek adventure

For those who want to relax.

THANK YOU INTERNET

but this is seriously the coolest collection of webpages ever