Who is the final authority on the meaning of a literary text? Does the reader's interpretation hold more value than the writer's intent?This 1,500-word essay exploring Roland Barthes's paper "The Death of the Author" takes a semiotic approach to literary interpretation and touches on Surrealism, automatic writing, and psychoanalysis.About the Author: Crispin Mayfair is a semiotician by training and an author by trade.