Question

Read the following:
“[…] a text is made of multiple writings, drawn from many cultures and entering into mutual relations of dialogue, parody, contestation, but there is one place where this multiplicity is focused and that place is the reader, not, as was hitherto said, the author. […] the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.”
Which theoretical school does the excerpt best represent?

• A. Reader-response criticism
• B. Formalism
• C. Post-structuralism
• D. New Criticism

Hint:

The phrase “death of the Author” is directly associated with Roland Barthes and Post-structuralist theory.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Identify the key ideas in the passage.
The excerpt emphasizes the multiplicity of meanings in a text, the rejection of authorial authority, and the central role of the reader in producing meaning. The idea of the “death of the Author” is a hallmark concept associated with Roland Barthes.
Step 2: Match the ideas with the theoretical school.
Post-structuralism challenges fixed meanings, stable structures, and author-centered interpretations, stressing instead the instability of meaning and the role of the reader and language systems.
Step 3: Eliminate incorrect options.
Formalism and New Criticism focus on the text itself rather than the reader, while Reader-response criticism emphasizes the reader but does not reject authorial authority in the radical way suggested here.
Step 4: Conclusion.
Therefore, the excerpt best represents Post-structuralism.