Chapter 3: Who Writes, Who Reads, and Why.

This chapter deals with the emergence of the idea of an author and a reader in England. The word author refers both to a person who writes a book and to someone who originates or makes. So what is the difference between writers and authors? Even though people use them interchangeably, a writer is the one who practices writing as an occupation like authors. The modern notion of authorship involves other components as well, including having something original to say, owning the rights to your work, and supporting yourself through sale of your writings. Historically, though, the first step in developing the modern notion of an author was to imbue the individual writer with authority. In medieval England, most of its vernacular writing are religious in nature. But by the end of the fourteenth century, not only did the scope of English literature expanded, the identity of the writer changed as well. So how did the writer progress from compiler or commentator to author? The difference between a mere writer and an author was clarified during the medieval period in England. An author is someone who was at once a writer and an authority, someone not merely to be read but also to be respected and believed. The works of an author (as opposed to just a writer of, sermons, fables or lyric poems) carried authority. Authority came from the fact that the work possessed two vital qualities: intrinsic worth and authenticity.