What a writer intended a story to mean, Barthes argued, shouldn't settle what it means

In his 1967 essay, Roland Barthes argued against reading a text through its author's biography and stated intentions, as if the author's word were the final, correct answer to what the work means. Once a text is published, Barthes argued, it belongs to its readers, each bringing their own interpretation, and insisting on the author's intended meaning actually limits a text rather than explaining it. The essay became a founding document of post-structuralist literary theory.

— Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author — Aspen magazine, 1967