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Michel Foucault What is an Author? Chan Man Ki, Queenie 54597512 Lai Hing Yu, Fish 54713785 Tang Sum Yi, Cynthia 54396529 Wong Yau Yau, Yoyo 54409148 Yung Yuk Ying, Jennifer 54608426 1

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Page 1: Michel Foucault - City University of Hong Kong · Michel Foucault What is an Author? ... Foucault comments on Manet’s painting in 1971(speech) ... Foucault appreciates Manet’s

Michel Foucault What is an Author?

Chan Man Ki, Queenie 54597512 Lai Hing Yu, Fish 54713785 Tang Sum Yi, Cynthia 54396529 Wong Yau Yau, Yoyo 54409148 Yung Yuk Ying, Jennifer 54608426

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Page 2: Michel Foucault - City University of Hong Kong · Michel Foucault What is an Author? ... Foucault comments on Manet’s painting in 1971(speech) ... Foucault appreciates Manet’s

Agenda 1. Introduction

2. Background of Foucault

3. Who influence Foucault’s thought 4. Foucault comment arts to reflect his thought

5. Author Functions (4 functions)

6. Author with trans-discursive position

7. Initiators of discursive practices

8. Practice

9. Conclusion 2

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Introduction - Timeline

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Background 1926 - 1984

French historian and philosopher

strong influence not only in philosophy

literature,philosophy,history, sociology, politics

Published Work

a. The History of Madness, 1961

b. The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception, 1963

c. The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, 1966

i. What is an Author?, 22 February 1969 4

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Who influence Foucault’s thought Including Friedrich Nietzsche and Hegel

Especially Friedrich Nietzsche

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Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)

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Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Philosophical naturalist

His main aesthetic theory

“Nothing is beautiful except human ”

➔Most beautiful thing is ourself

➔your background and experience

➔how we appreciate the artist

➔depends on how we look at the artwork

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How does Friedrich Nietzsche influence Foucault? “The order of things” ( Foucault,1966)

Challenged that audience should read the context of

the work but not the historical background his

political,social states of the author

From the thoughts of Nietzsche

➢ foucault argued that artwork is reflected:

Artist himself,background and the

experience,artwork is representing themselves.

pointed out that author have big influence to the art

work.

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Foucault comments on 1656’s masterpiece, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez in 1966

Infanta Margarita Teresa (Philip IV’s daughter)

José Nieto (chamberlain) Diego Velázquez

(painter)

King Philip IV and Queen Mariana

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Foucault comments on 1656’s masterpiece, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez in 1966

Infanta Margarita Teresa (Philip IV’s daughter)

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Foucault comments on 1656’s masterpiece, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez in 1966

José Nieto (chamberlain)

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Foucault comments on 1656’s masterpiece, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez in 1966

King Philip IV and Queen Mariana

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Page 12: Michel Foucault - City University of Hong Kong · Michel Foucault What is an Author? ... Foucault comments on Manet’s painting in 1971(speech) ... Foucault appreciates Manet’s

Foucault comments on 1656’s masterpiece, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez in 1966

Diego Velázquez (painter)

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Foucault comments on 1656’s masterpiece, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez in 1966

● ONLY visual representation: indistinct mirror ● Situated in Bright position ● BUT no characters in painting are looking at it

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Page 14: Michel Foucault - City University of Hong Kong · Michel Foucault What is an Author? ... Foucault comments on Manet’s painting in 1971(speech) ... Foucault appreciates Manet’s

Foucault comments on 1656’s masterpiece, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez in 1966

Situations Gazes

1. When Model is being painted Gaze of model(Middle,the mirror)

2. When Spectators contemplate the painting

Gaze of Spectators(Right,the stair)

3. When Painter is composing the picture in the hidden easel

Gaze of painter(Left)

● Superimposition of gazes function exterior to the painting are invisible ● BUT they are represented in the painting

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Page 15: Michel Foucault - City University of Hong Kong · Michel Foucault What is an Author? ... Foucault comments on Manet’s painting in 1971(speech) ... Foucault appreciates Manet’s

Foucault comments on 1656’s masterpiece, Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez in 1966

● Gazes connect to an ideal and real point ● Gazes are under destabilized positions ● Positions can be reversed infinitely ● Allows spectators to fill in the empty place of subject

Gazes from the painting Invisible

Gaze of painter

Models who are being painted in the hidden easel

Gaze of King and Queen(models)

Their own portrait which they cannot see but reflected in the mirror

Gaze of Spectators Centre of the scene (place himself in the painting by usurpation)

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Foucault comments arts to reflect his thought TWO western painting principles ruled by Foucault from 15 to19th century

Words and images have often been put together, but one of them would be

subordinated to the other

When painted image resembled an object in the world, it often served to

direct the spectators to recognize the real object in the world

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Foucault comments on Magritte’s painting in 1968 Magritte uses words to challenge the

hierarchical principle

Word “This” is ambiguous

(refer to image of pipe?sentence itself?the

entire painting?)

Allow multiple interpretations

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René Magritte, This is not a pipe, 1929

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Foucault comments on Manet’s painting in 1971(speech)

Manet’s paintings were published in 19th century, however he became active

in 20th century

Manet introduced a painting method, “painting-object”

Foucault appreciates Manet’s idea

Invention of painting-object:

1. Treatment of space

2. Treatment of light

3. The place of viewer

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Foucault comments on Manet’s painting in 1971(speech)

● A sense of flatness

● Two planes

● Source of light from the place of

observing

● Spectators observe the painting and

Olympia observes us meanwhile

● BUT Spectators are invisible

Manet. Olympia. 1863. oil on canvas, Musee d’Orsay, Paris

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Published in 1966

Defines discourse

A group of statement with center topics

E.g. natural history, analysis of wealth and political economy

Disregards similar analysis of the authors and their

works

Results crude and naive employment of authors’

names

E.g.Buffon,Charles Darwin

∵ Judged by others

→ Speech “What is an author?” for explanation

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The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences

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What is an Author?

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What is an Author? A speech given at the Collège de France on 22 February 1969

Responded to The Death of Author - disconnection of writing and writer

and criticism on The Order of Things

Demonstrated the idea of “Author Function”

Applying on Arts

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Author Not only refer to the individual who write the text

The individual’s name that provides a discourse

A kind of social construction

Varies with culture and time

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Contemporary Writing “What matters who’s speaking” (from Bekett)

Themes

Interplay of signs

Disregard the author

Neglect the Signified

Interpret the Signifier by the readers

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Author function “Author” should not be seen as the centre of the texts

or entirely be disregarded when interpreting the texts

Readers should see “author” as a function to interpret the texts.

4 features of Author Functions

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1.Author as object of “appropriation”

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Author function apply in painting

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Author function apply in painting

28 Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-06, oil on panel, 77 cm × 53 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris) L.H.O.O.Q. (1919). Marcel Duchamp

Mona Lisa with moustache

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1.Author as object of “appropriation” ✘ Copyright law

● people’s derivative work inspired by or

based on previous art work were not

illegal

● derivative work status as property is

minor

● only when writing or speech said

something transgressive and broke rules

● assign to real authors then the authors

became subjected to punishments

✓ Copyright law

● texts became forms of property

● show author’s name

● Intellectual property right became property to

authors

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2.Author function varies with time and text

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Author function apply in painting

Nicolas Poussin,The Rape the Sabine Women,c.1637-38, oil on canvas, 159 X 206 cm (Musee du Louvre)

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Pills

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2.Author function varies with time and text

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Middle Ages

highly increase on technological and agricultural innovation

Scientific text

only the the scientific text with indicating author name will be regards as trustful work

People require author’s name as indicator of truthfulness (author function)

Author function

Literature

Importance of indicating the author name in literature text is less important

Author function

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2.Author function varies with time and text ● 17th and 18th Centuries

● change of ideology

● After french revolution

Scientific text

-No need author

-law of science is remain unchanged

-Theory in scientific text just like restate, it is much difference with the literature text

Author function

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2.Author function varies with time and text

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Literary

-result of french revolution

-through painting express extreme fear to the society

- realism romanticism

-emphasis individual feeling and expression

-seek for the author name in order to understand the meaning

-indicating of the author name will affect how others perception towards the artwork

E.g.background,experience and history of the author

Author function

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Nicolas Poussin(1594-1665) French Baroque artist Features with clarity, logic

and over color

(RED) over color

Clearly showing the men grabing the

women

Logic: Poussin utilise the contrast of

colour in order to express the anxiety

of the women in ancient Rome that they

being kidnapped.

If the Spectator know more background

of Nicolas Poussin,then there will be

more perception towards this painting.

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Nicolas Poussin,The Rape the Sabine Women,c.1637-38, oil on canvas, 159 X 206 cm (Musee du Louvre)

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3.Construction of a rational entity

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3.Construction of a rational entity According to Saint Jerome, there are four criteria in maintaining the

compatibility of authorship

1. Standard level of quality

2. Contradiction or conflicts of ideas

3. Uniform style

4. Definite historical figure

People at that time saw these criteria as tradition and assumed an artist

would only have one author function

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3.Construction of a rational entity

Foucault questions why it is used as tradition

He complements that author function can be more than one

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Example - Picasso (Blue Period 1901-1904)

Painting style (Author function)

Monochrome → greyish color, mainly blue

Use of shadow → The body is still in 3 - dimensional

Single viewpoint

Tragic theme

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Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903-04, oil on panel, 122.9 cm × 82.6 cm (Art Institute in Chicago)

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Example - Picasso (Cubism)

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Painting style (Author function)

Rich use of colors

Use of geometric form (bodies are reassembled)

2 - dimensional → figures are flattened

More than one viewpoint

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907, oil on canvas, 243.9 x 233.7 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York

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4.Plurality of Egos

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4.Plurality of Egos Different egos can be performed within a text

And they can contribute different author functions

Example

Mathematics treatise, fiction

In Art, an entity can be:

The individual

The one who creates the style of painting

The character in the painting

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Example - Picasso (Blue Period)

Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903-04, oil on panel, 122.9 cm × 82.6 cm (Art Institute in Chicago)

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The subject / character in the painting:

Guitarist enjoy playing the guitar

Crooked and thin body

Painting style (Author function)

Monochrome style - Blue

Indicating moody atmosphere

Guitar in yellowish brown → as the focus

The body is elongated → producing a weak look

Individual / Painter — Picasso

Poverty, his friend committing suicide

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Author with tran-discursive position Initiators of discursive practices

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Author with tran-discursive position Author that is a pioneer, a founder of great theories

“As old as our civilization” (Foucault)

Their author function not only influence their own work

But also other authors’ work

can support or disprove his or her ideas later

“the work sits in parallel with subsequent work in its tradition” (Foucault)

E.g. Aristotle, the Church Father

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Initiators of discursive practices Author that provides new different related discourses (ideas or concepts)

that branches out within his or her own work

In the 19th Century

His or her ideas are assumed to be true

“initiators’ work overshadows the discourse” (Foucault)

“Made possible a certain number of differences.” (Foucault)

E.g. Freud, Marx

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Example - Paul Cézanne Use of geometric forms, flat surface to

represent

Influenced Picasso and Georges Braque

and emergence of Cubism

∵ Initiator of discursive practices

Paul Cezanne, The Basket of Apples, c. 1893, oil on canvas, 65 x 80 cm. Art Institute of Chicago

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The End

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References Brown, Alison Leigh. On Foucault: A Critical Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2000.

Barker, Philip. Michel Foucault: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998.

Danaher, Geoff, Tony Schirato, and Jen Webb. Understanding Foucault. London: Sage

Publications, 2000.

Foucault, Michel. "Las Meninas." In The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human

Sciences, 3-16. US, New York: Vintage Books, 1970.

Fink-Eitel, Hinrich. Foucault: An Introduction. Philadelphia: Pennbridge Books, 1992.

Horrocks, Chris, and Zoran Jevtic. Introducing Foucault. Trumpington: Icon, 1999.

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References Klages, Mary. 2012. "Klages on Foucault - University of Idaho." Accessed October 25, 2016.

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~sflores/KlagesFoucault.html.

Lemert, Charles C., and Garth Gillan. Michel Foucault: Social Theory and Transgression. New

York: Columbia University Press, 1982.

Picasso, Pablo, and David F. Setford. Pablo Picasso: A Vision. West Palm Beach: Norton Gallery

of Art, 1994.

Rapko, John. 2011. "Enchantment and Malaise": Michel Foucault on Manet." Accessed October

25, 2016. http://www.artcritical.com/2011/07/31/foucault-on-manet/.

Tanke, Joseph J. Foucault's Philosophy of Art: A Genealogy of Modernity. London: Continuum,

2009.

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References Wicks, Robert, and Lopes, Dominic Mclver. "Foucault." In The Routledge Companion to

Aesthetics, edited by Berys Gaut, 159-69. UK: Taylor & Francis Group, 2007.

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