Abstract
Structuralism defends the irreducibility of literary texts, which cannot be criticized through biographical or sociological context. In his essay, "The Death of the Author", Roland Barthes argues against incorporating the intentions and biographical context of an author in the interpretation of texts. He criticizes the tendency to consider aspects of the author's identity - his political views, historical context, religion, ethnicity, psychology, or other biographical or personal characteristics - to distill meaning from his work. To give a text to an author and assign a single interpretation to it, is to impose a limit on that text. The author's intentions are irrelevant and the reader doesn't need to know what the author meant to do, and if he is finally successful.
