Critically Evaluate Barthes’ Claim That “the Author Is Dead”. in Your Answer You Must Discuss the Role of Intention in Responding to, and Interpreting, Works of Art.

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Intro:
• I will evaluate that Barthes claim ‘the author is dead’ is correct, and in doing so will discuss the role of intention in responding to, and interpreting, works of art
Define intention:
• Intentionalism subscribes to the idea that an author creating an artwork has an intended message and intention to create a work of art. The value of this intention, and consequently the value of the author, can be evaluated through considering the intentions’ ability to construct/influence meaning for the responder when examining the artwork.
Evaluation that Barthes claim ‘the author is dead’ is correct:
• Intention has no role in helping us respond/interpret meaning of art. This is because intention certainly doesn’t reflect the meaning individual responders gain when responding to, and interpreting artworks. Therefore, the artist can be considered irrelevant to the meaning of the art, and the artwork itself. Beardsley in 1946 subscribed to this view, stating that the intentions of the artist within an artwork are not available.
• Since we frequently can and do interpret a work of art with little or no knowledge about the artist, let alone what is intended, an artist’s intention doesn’t fix the meaning of the work. Example: Consider a painting of two rings joined. Suppose the artist sincerely asserts that it represents the male/female relationship. If you can’t see it, should we say that it symbolizes the male/female relationship all the same, since that’s what’s intended but we just can’t tell? Thus, this demonstrates how anyone can make anything mean anything just by intending some different- surely the author does not have the right to undermine all possible meanings gained from an artwork excluding their own.
• Example: An individual can’t make a sentence mean something completely different just by intending their words be taken a different way. Therefore,

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