Importance of Implied Author

[caronbot]

Abbott states that the implied author is the construct that is important when attempting to interpret literature (as far as authorial intention is concerned).  Does this only apply to literature where we are meant to interpret it like a politically charged piece of writing or a philosophically charged work?  Or can it also be applied to something

Comments

[martin_doc]

It's useful to think of the implied author as an imagined unifying force that keeps the meaning together for the viewer/reader/whatever. It actually has less to do with the real author and intentionality then you might imagine. Think back to the example we discussed in class of the three images put together -- kid on the street, woman cooking in a jungle hut, building falling down. As we look at that and instinctively try to assemble a narrative out of it (successful or no), we assume some sort of governing force that organizes the material at the moment that we receive it. This is the implied author.

MKF

[caronbot]

Yeah I had grasped that aspect of it, I was more curious about the necessity of something like an implied author for a simple work.

-Matt

Implied author

[klminmd]

I think that our interpretation of a piece is a simple or complex as we chose to make it. When I think of Dr. Seuss I think of comfort food for the mind with a little bit of strange new spice. It is challenging for children and adult as the characters and situations are not completely cute and safe. As an adult, I read it as an iconic piece that tells the reader/viewer that our worlds are safe for us and our children. Seuss and society are keeping us safe to explore the strange worlds of fiction and cartoons depicting lampoons of ourselves and our society.
Not to get into a political debate but a judge in Afghanistan recently sentenced a student to death for researching on the internet. We are free to search the internet here without to much government tracking or interference in the content we read. I just think that we have an implied author working in our heads that tells us that Dr. Seuss is keeping us safe and our society safe.
klm