So Then...
So is the author important? Is authorship crucial? If I haven't made you see that it is, then tell me and I'll go jump of the highest building I can find. If you can't see that the authorship is more than just being credited with a work and that authorship is really creating a discipline, a field, and protectors of their works, then either you are rather slow, I'm a failure as an author, or you have a statue of Barthes in your bedroom and you indulge in Barthian chanting in your spare time. But after all is said and done, you must realise that if it were not for Barthes and myself, you wouldn't even be doing this. So credibility and importance must come from th reputation of the author. Furthermore, the premise of any analysis must necessarily include the author's perogative. So my bottom line is that the author is crucial. (and Barthes is an annoying fool)