A published text escapes authorial control entirely.
Evidence
Proverbially, a writer loses his/her book at the moment that it is published and enters the public sphere. But to feel the full melancholy force of the adage, there is nothing like facing a translation of a book into a language the author does not understand. He, or she, can have little idea of what has happened to it: misunderstandings, distortions, word-by-word literalisms, additions, deletions, or: creative adaptations, seductive rereadings, changed emphases, and more beautiful prose than in the original. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 828
Categorization
- XREF: Echoes Foucault’s author-function and the broader point that texts circulate and produce effects their originators cannot govern — core to how the Islamophobia field treats canonical theory texts. — connects to: Unknown primary texts require unemended editions because editors distort authorial intent; Professional skill in text reproduction requires suppressing intellectual interest in content
Related
- Unknown primary texts require unemended editions because editors distort authorial intent (similarity 0.80)