Introduction

Abstract

In his essay “What Is an Author?” Michel Foucault observes,

An author’s name is not simply an element of speech… Its presence is functional in that it serves as a means of classification. A name can group together a number of texts and thus differentiate them from others…the fact that a number of texts [are] attached to a single name implies that relationships of homogeneity, filiation, reciprocal explanation, authentification, or of common utilization [are] established among them. Finally, the author’s name characterizes a particular manner of existence of discourse. Discourse that possesses an author’s name is not to be immediately consumed and forgotten… (284)