Translator's Note
Preface to the Korean edition
introduction

Part 1: Authors and Works

Chapter 1: Metonymic Relationships
The instability of the boundary of a 'work'
Organizing consistency

Chapter 2 Similar Relationships
Author, speaker, character
Writing about yourself
The Author and His Fictional Alter: Houellebecq and Bénier-Bürkel

Chapter 3: Intentionality/Intentionality or Internal Causality
Lawsuits over intent? The "right to make mistakes" of anti-German collaborators.
Backfire? Orel's Song and Brett Bailey's "Exhibition B"

Writers Embroiled in Part 2 Scandals

Chapter 4 Abuse of Power
Meaning of the award: Polanski case
The Depraved Child Sexuality - The Glory and Misery of the Author

Chapter 5: Participating in Reality That Endangers Reputation
Hermeneutics of Oppression: Blanchot and Grass vs. De Man and Jauss
Heidegger's “Metaphysical Anti-Semitism”
In memory of Moras?
Endgame: From Literature to Ideology

Chapter 6: Is Peter Handke an Advocate of Evil?
Ambiguity about the writing of doubt
The price of real-world engagement

conclusion
Acknowledgements
Author's Note
Appendix: The Impure Foundations of Autonomy

Between love and deletion,
Always a hot and old issue

When a work we've loved so dearly is discovered to have violated someone's rights, or when it's revealed that the author has committed a crime or morally wrongful act, what should we do with that love? We can't simply cut that heart off overnight, nor can we sustain that love. We're left clutching that heart, unable to move forward.

The issue surrounding the morality of the work and its author is the most heated debate at this point.
A recent incident in which a novelist reproduced the victim's story in his work without her permission sparked a heated debate over creative freedom, the scope of tolerance, and the ethics of reproduction. The controversy surrounding the #MeToo movement, which began in earnest in 2016, and the subsequent return of the perpetrator to creative activities, continues to this day.
While some call for boycotts, boycotts, and even the deletion of the work and the permanent suspension of the artist's creative activities, others believe that the excellence of a work should be judged solely by the work itself.
Although it has once again surfaced, the debate surrounding the ethics of authors and their works has been an ongoing issue with many conflicting views for a long time.
The feeling of discomfort we feel when we find out too late that the author of a work included in a textbook was pro-Japanese is not at all unfamiliar to us.

With the emergence of social media, which serves as both a private space and a public forum where anyone can freely express their opinions, more people have been able to voice their opinions.
Whenever an incident occurs, heated debates about it erupt on social media, sometimes devolving into groundless accusations and illogical arguments rather than healthy discussions.
This is because, until now, there has been an absence of a theoretical and analytical framework to address these issues.
"Can Authors and Works Be Separated?" is a book that covers various discussions surrounding the morality of authors and their works, and introduces basic theories and useful analytical methods that can be utilized.
This book will serve as a guide for those who are confused.

In 'What is a writer?'
Peter Handke's Nobel Prize win

Can the author and the work be separated? To answer this question, this book begins by examining the relationship between "author" and "work."
Are the author as creator of a work and the author as a human being the same person? Does the work's ethics reflect the author's? Are the two inseparable? Part 1 of the book seeks to answer these questions by analyzing and defining the relationship between the author and the work in three ways.

If Part 1 of the book is a theory section that establishes a theoretical foundation, Part 2 is a practical section that applies it to real-life examples.
Based on the analytical framework established in Part 1, Part 2 examines the cases of Roman Polanski, Heidegger, and Peter Handke, divided by their characteristics.
Chapter 4 deals with writers who have committed crimes such as rape, child sexual abuse, and murder, while Chapter 5 deals with writers who have expressed problematic ideologies such as racism, anti-Semitism, and support for fascism and Nazism.
The controversy sparked by the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to Peter Handke, who expressed a pro-Serbian stance during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, is discussed separately in Chapter 6.
By analyzing specific cases, we examine several questions surrounding the relationship between an author's morality and his or her work, which arise when the author commits a reprehensible act or crime.
By following the author's analysis, each reader will find it easy to apply and expand upon it to other cases.

For those who want to become better cultural consumers and mediators

This book argues that simply deleting problematic works and making them seem as if they never existed is dangerous.
Because it can erase even the traces of violence.
We need a “questioning attitude” and “good questions” rather than quick and clear decisions or answers.
This will lead to a proper discussion and a better direction for the cultural world.

As viewers and consumers of art, the works we choose reflect our personal ethics.
For those struggling to become better appreciators and consumers of culture, "Can You Separate the Author and the Work?" will be a very useful book.
As you follow the author's case studies, along with the underlying theoretical framework, you'll soon develop your own ethical principles and develop useful analytical tools.
This book particularly emphasizes the role of cultural mediators, who decide which works will be highly praised, awarded, and elevated to the ranks of classics, and which will be introduced to the public and which will not.
I highly recommend this book to them.