the death of the author concept (the idea that what an author says about their work has no bearing on its meaning and that a work should be considered completely separately from the author and even their intentions) can be liberating and useful in some contexts, but in others it can actually be oppressive and wrong-sighted

sometimes the concept can be very useful–a creator may not be very insightful about their own work, especially if they’re new to the art form or if they simply articulate their ideas best through the art form–or if there is pressure for them to talk about their work in a certain way and/or hide, dilute or distort certain themes about the work. consider, for example, an author’s public statements about a work containing queer themes in a culture where admitting such themes existed or that one was queer could result in censorship, social ostracism or even imprisonment

and no matter how insightful an artist is about their work, all art can be interpreted in numerous ways. and anything an author says, even about their own work, is itself an interpretation. though one might be tempted to say the author has more access to what their intentions and thoughts re: the work, and that’s typically true, sometimes the author can actually be lack access to, misunderstand or fail to carry out their own intentions. one example is when someone like Stephanie Meyers says Twilight is feminist and intended it to be so. we can clearly see that her words about that intention don’t change the fact the work is not feminist.

further, interpretations of a work, especially a complex one, may extend far beyond the work itself or even what the author dreamed of. limiting interpretations to what the author says definitely stifles interpretation and the potential of a work

however, there are times when completely divorcing the intent of the author or the character of the author from the work can be misguided and even harmful. for example, the madoka anime has creators who are shitty people with bad intentions behind their work, and ignoring that is oppressive toward people who are harmed by the ideas and intentions these creators have. the madoka anime was meant, the creator specified, to deconstruct a genre that empowers girls and show how magical girls like the taliban: with good intentions but so misguided and arrogant they can’t help but cause suffering the world. the show deconstructs a female-made and girl-empowering genre for men in a series that depicts pubescent girls dying and suffering over and over. to deny that madoka’s creators’ statements can change the work for female viewers, is thus oppressive.

another issue is this ideology can help enable a privileged group takes something a marginalized person made, or any person made with themes that pertain to marginalized groups, and DENY those themes exist when the creator says so even if they’re clearly present in the work. one example i can think of is white queer people taking Janelle Monae’s song “Q.U.E.E.N” as an anthem for all queer people, and ignoring the racial aspects of the song that empower Black women specifically.

the concept of death of the author helps enable privileged people try to take things for themselves because the “work doesn’t belong to the author anymore.” it can even justify cultural thievery, treating cultural products as completely separate from their makers, and even people misappropriating works to further oppressive ideology. on the flip side, it can also help protect creators who actually had oppressive intentions for the work from backlash.

so while death of author can be liberating when you consider that even if some white straight dude makes something and intended it in a shitty way but anyone with a marginalized person can interpret what they like and use it how they will, and readers’ analyses can greatly expand a work, and rightly so, as no creator can fully realize all the thematic and metaphorical potential or even fully developed complexity in their work, AND an author’s GOOD intentions do not rule out the possibility of negative things being in a work, death of the author has its limitations, can be oppressive and worthy of criticism as a concept