Authorintended

Authorintended is a term used in literary theory to denote the meaning an author intended to convey in a text. It refers to the authorial intention as a potential source of interpretation, in contrast to meanings that emerge solely from the text’s language, from reader response, or from historical and cultural contexts. The term is a neologism rather than a long-established label, but it is used to discuss how intention factors into meaning-making.

Historical and theoretical context accompanies the concept. In the 20th century, author-intent became central to debates about how texts should be interpreted. The intentional fallacy, a phrase introduced by W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley, argues that a work’s meaning should not be determined by authorial intention. Since then, critics have varied in how they treat authorintended meaning: some see it as a legitimate, though often unrecoverable, guide; others oppose anchoring interpretation to an author's stated aims.

Contemporary usage and limitations are commonly recognized in analysis. In practice, scholars may consult authorial evidence such as drafts, letters, or interviews to assess what the authorintended, but they typically acknowledge that a text can acquire meanings beyond or against that intention. Textual meaning is viewed as the product of a constellation of factors including form, genre, historical context, and reception.

Related concepts include authorial intent, intention-based hermeneutics, and the broader debate over the death of the author. In addition, discussions of authorintended can intersect with metadata practices in digital publishing, where texts are annotated with stated purpose or intended audience.