Authorship

Essentially, authorship is the state an individual is in when creating a text. In other words, when an individual has ownership to a certain text or novel, they are the author of that subject. The way we write, or our authorship, is unique to our experiences and environments. As the Yugoslav-born British linguist, Roz Ivanic, states in his book, Writing and Identity: The Discoursal Construction of Identity in Academic Writing, “each word we write represents an encounter, possibly a struggle, between our multiple past experiences and the demands of a new context. Writing is not some neutral activity which we just learn like a physical skill, but it implicates every fiber of the writer’s multifaceted being,” (Ivanic, 181). Depending on factors like who taught us to write and our interests in the subject our authorship is formed. The artform is very personal and intrusive, no matter the message we communicate through it.

In a more physical sense of authorship, one’s written identity or handwriting has been used to give insight on personality traits which display an important connection to their work. Following this idea that one’s authorship is insightful when pen is put to paper, a field of study known as Graphology is dedicated to understanding different handwriting. According to the Institute of British Graphology, “... handwriting is the pattern of our psychology expressed in symbols on the page and these symbols are as unique as our own DNA,” (The British Institute of Graphologists). Using research and following patterns, graphologists can make assumptions on one’s personality.

Marshall McLuhan, noted for his success in philosophy, states how the system was part of a “humble service organization” in his novel The Medium is The Massage (McLuhan, 66). The writing and publishing system did not support dishonesty and as a result, many authors were not taken advantage of for their work by outside parties. With written text, stealing of each other's work was not a concern due to how tedious the process was which established this strong sense of morality. Centuries ago, having authorship of a piece of text wasn’t highly prioritized which is evident through lack of signatures found in texts. After popularity rose concerning xerography, much like a photocopier today, authorship became connected with copyright infringement claims as many publishers and authors attempted to steal work.

McLuhan’s novel states that “in the sense we know it today, individual intellectual effort related to the book as an economic opportunity,” (66).

Before authorship became a concerning topic, many writers, especially in the medieval times, did not write their own signatures in their own text which is an action commonly attached to authors today. As mentioned previously, print technology was met with opposition from users and this feeling of resistance grew even stronger when stripping an individual of their authorship became a wide concern. This is because print technology like the xerography, allowed for copying text and pasting it on a customized book making it completely different from its original version. Today, there is an extensive legal process attached to authorship as copyright infringement claims grew since print technology rose in popularity. On a lighter note, it is much easier and quicker today to accomplish a sense.