‘On the Death of the Author’ is a short story by Alvaro Enrigue. Enrigue is an editor, literary critic and author. He was born in Mexico and currently lives in Washington DC. His work is often categorised as post-modern, mixing different themes and narrative styles (literaturfestival.com). On the Death of the Author is based partially on the true story of Ishi, who is known as the last Yahi Indian. Melded into the story of Ishi is a discussion of Enrigue's writing process.
Enrigue presents the story of Ishi in the following order. Ishi was found close to death outside a slaughterhouse and was subsequently taken to jail. A San Francisco professor saw an article about him in the paper and decided to take him to the museum of anthropology. He lived the rest of his life in the museum as a living exhibit/janitor. Enrigue also tells of the persecution of the Yahi and details of Ishi’s life in the museum.
Enrigue has, as far as I can tell, conveyed the facts of Ishi’s tale accurately (Ishi: A Yahi Indian). However the discussion of his writing process and ideas is, to me, a much more interesting aspect for discussion. In this story Enrigue expresses distaste for things in writing and life in general that are too literal. He says “…it does seem to me that so much literalness could end up being harmful…” (Death of the Author 2). He talks about, instead of this literalness, leaving things open and allowing for some mystery or mythology in life and in literature.
He says that he has tried to write this story many times before without much success (1). He also says that his first 5 or 6 attempts were always too political and “…literal to the death with all [their] meaning exposed…” (4). He says that the political aspects in the story do not interest him as much as the more abstract idea of being the last of something.
My understanding is that his troubles in writing this tale lie in the expression of meaning. He does not want a lifeless factual recounting of the story nor does he want a political commentary on the new world’s attitude towards the Yahi. Instead he seems to want to express the mythology and mystery that he gets from the story by providing suggestions and leaving the meaning open to interpretation.
Enrigue’s idea, as I understand it, is that the suggestion of meaning is possibly more powerful than a literal expression would be. This is because it leaves things to the imagination of the reader. A suggestion can create possibilities for meaning to be elaborated within and thus different readers can draw different conclusions by applying their own background and experiences.
Umberto Eco discusses this idea in his book ‘The Open Work’. He says that although when viewing a work of art we are looking at a finished product, we come to it with our own personal ‘credentials’ (1-3). In other words when looking at a work of art each person will apply their own tastes, prejudices and individual perspective. He also notes that an individual may have a different view of a work at a different time because of what is going on in their life at that moment (6).
Eco writes that the value of art is tied up in this ability to be reinterpreted (3-4). He makes a comparison between a work of art and a traffic sign. The sign can only be interpreted one way as it is a symbolic functional item and if it is interpreted differently through an individual’s particularly vivid imagination it ceases to function as a traffic sign and thus loses its value. The work of art, however, presents information within a framework that is subject to individual interpretation. This is because it is presented as art but Eco also claims that art gains its validity from its ability to be suggestive and open to multiple interpretations.
This relates to Enrigue's opinions that a story suggestive of meaning is more powerful than one that dictates a literal meaning. Throughout the story he discusses his dislike of literalness both in literature and in life. The alternative he proposes is that open and perhaps illogical or unpredictable stories are better. This is because, he says, of the feeling of mystery and mythology that they produce (Death of the Author 5). For Enrigue then the value of literature is in its ability to be suggestive of meaning not literal.
Although Enrigue does not discuss the idea of differing interpretations of a work specifically I think that his denial of literalness in favour of a more suggestive approach points to a favouring of what Eco calls open works. The ‘open work’ presents information that has the potential to produce meaning through interpretation and each individual including the author can take their own meaning from it (The Open Work 9). Enrigue only discusses writing this story but Eco applies the idea of the open work to visual art and music as well as literature.
References:
Eco, Umberto. The Open Work. Translated by Cancogni, Anna. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard university press, 1989. Print.
Enrigue, Alvaro. Translated by Levine, Suzanne Jill and Kushner, Anna. "On the Death of the Author." Words Without Borders. Web. 17 March 2010.
Author unknown "Alvaro Enrigue." www.literaturfestival.com. International literature festival Berlin, 2004. Web. 10 April 2010.
Nicole Mullen "Ishi: A Yahi Indian" Hearst Museum Berkeley. Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, 2003. Web. 10 April 2010.
