Individuality - work or author?

Why is there so much emphasis on the "individuality" of the author?
Cannot a work distance itself from the personality behind it and stand
alone on its own legs owing to its originality? Most authors obviously
cloud their works by their personal biases and thereby plant
themselves into the work. Fair enough. Even philosophers were victims.
Why the book signings, modeling for photographs and the ilk? Fame,
promotion and money is one thing and again is probably justified. Why
the need to have authors as heroes and supermen? I also understand the
need to study a philosopher/ political writer's life in order to
understand the underlying biases but fail to see any for a fiction
one.

Post-modernists like Thomas Pynchon and William Gaddis favour
deliberate obscurity but then again they are victims of a "cult-like"
reverence - the sort of thing Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart)
possesses in rock music. Is there any way to make works speak for
themselves, distanced from the author? John Cage, too, attempted this
in his music but failed.

I invite a healthy discussion.

Regards,
Rama

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:27:03 -0800 (PST), Ramakrishnan Parthasarathy
<ramakrishnan.parthasarathy.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:

>Why is there so much emphasis on the "individuality" of the author?
>Cannot a work distance itself from the personality behind it and stand
>alone on its own legs owing to its originality? Most authors obviously
>cloud their works by their personal biases and thereby plant
>themselves into the work. Fair enough. Even philosophers were victims.
>Why the book signings, modeling for photographs and the ilk? Fame,
>promotion and money is one thing and again is probably justified. Why
>the need to have authors as heroes and supermen? I also understand the
>need to study a philosopher/ political writer's life in order to
>understand the underlying biases but fail to see any for a fiction
>one.
>
>Post-modernists like Thomas Pynchon and William Gaddis favour
>deliberate obscurity but then again they are victims of a "cult-like"
>reverence - the sort of thing Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart)
>possesses in rock music. Is there any way to make works speak for
>themselves, distanced from the author? John Cage, too, attempted this
>in his music but failed.
>
>I invite a healthy discussion.
>
>Regards,
>Rama

I agree with what you say and I wish there was an answer to
this. However, as soon anyone decides to seek a publisher for
their novel or to self-publish it, the book becomes a commodity
in an industry in which the writer is trying to sell it. The novel of
an unknown author doesn't stand a chance of success (having a
large number of readers) no matter how good it is or how
marketable it is. Like any other commodity it has to be
advertised and the writer is the vehicle, hence Rama's mention
of book signings etc. Of course, if you happen to know someone
influential... I started writing novels when I retired in 1995 -- too
late in life to generate the necessary publicity. I soon realised I
would have to change my goals to achieve any kind of
satisfaction at all. Being unknown, I was obliged to seek small
publishers for my books and they were either unwilling or
unable to promote them. I myself could not afford the thousands
of dollars required to make myself and my work more
marketable.

I have written five novels with excellent reviews, yet my total
readership for them all (not necessarily sales) is probably about
200. So where's the point in writing if your work will not be read?
Some are satisfied simply by telling a story and seeing it in
print. And maybe there's another goal -- get great reviews so you
know you have created something worthwhile. I am going to give
away stocks of my books to libraries for a start and to anyone
else who wants them until they runs out.

D. Edward Bradley
(www.dedwardbradley.com)