Feminist Design Methodology: Considering the Case of Maria Kipp Page: 6
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Buckley's text might suggest, meaning develops "outside" the making, material, and
formal properties of the object? Then, what role or authority does the maker have in
establishing and controlling the meaning of the object, and how can a historian expect
to determine this meaning intact? Theorists such as France's Roland Barthes (1915-
1980) have "questioned the centrality of the author as a fixed point of meaning."7 In his
essay concerning meaning and authorship Barthes writes, "A text's unity lies not in its
origins but in its destination...the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of
the author."8 When this idea is applied to design history, it suggests that it is the
consumer who assigns meaning rather than the designer. Barthes' idea circumvents the
authority of the biography of the designer and any subsequent claim to exclusive
knowledge of the object on her or his part. In design history, the recognition and
elevation of the productive status of the consumer severs the object from the maker and
devalues her or his intentions, mimicking the actual process of consumption from the
designer to the consumer.9
Granting authority to any meanings the designer attributes to her or his work
depends on identifying the designer. In design history, this can be particularly difficult,
especially since often design is a collective process involving numerous groups of
people. From concept to production to retail, each participant gains "authorship" by way
of creating and altering the design and in presenting and using the finished object.
Moreover, while it may be reasonable to assume no designer would deny the authorship
of her or his work, most mass-produced designs lack direct attributions to any one
7 Ibid., 259.
8 Roland Barthes, "The Death of the Author," Image, Music, Text (New York: Hill and Wang, 1977), 148.6
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Lawrence, Anne. Feminist Design Methodology: Considering the Case of Maria Kipp, thesis, December 2003; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5538/m1/10/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .