Defining Terms: Death of the Author
Death of the Author is a literary term that hinges on the idea that, as a narrative develops, it takes on a life of its own to the point where the author of the narrative becomes more of a channel for the story to take place rather than its sole creator. What this means is what an author thinks they are communicating through a particular narrative is (almost) irrelevant to what they actually communicate. I say almost, because there is a difference between an author giving insight to their work in a way that actually makes sense in the work itself, and an author asserting a particular theme or idea that is not clearly communicated.
A good example of this is occurred after the release of the 2021 move "The Suicide Squad." The writer/director James Gunn, sought to portray the character "Polka-Dot Man" as a strange narcissistic attention hog that acts out in order to appear sympathetic. The problem is the majority of the audience actually began to sympathize with him due to his traumatic past, and despite some of his off-putting behavior saw him as good natured and empathetic where the rest of the team was not. A typical internet debate ensued, and fans became divided. Some agreed that because James Gunn declared it, therefore it is canon. Others held the view of Death of the Author, and said that assertion makes no sense given the narrative established, therefore it doesn't matter what James Gunn said.
The point is that for those who hold the Death of the Author view, the most authoritative evidence for an argument about a narrative comes from the narrative itself, not the author. This does not mean that all interpretations of a work are valid interpretatins, it just means that all interpretations should at least be considered and determined to be valid by examining arguments derived from the text and any relevant insight we can gain about the language used.
In my own personal view of Death of the Author, the term signifies a careful reader's search for truth. Not "my" truth or "a" truth or even what the author thinks the truth is, but the truth of what is being communicated based on the text itself. This I believe is innate in everyone to a degree. Truth and right meaning illuminate one's own understanding of a piece of art, and more broadly the world around them. To take it to an even more metaphysical level, even in the real world humans search for truth whether they know it or not, those that find the truth and accept it generally have a clearer path and purpose in life, those that take a more relativistic approach do hold to the truth of relativism, but it is a weak hold that provides little light to the path ahead, and is a hold that is easily broken.
