Is there Life in this Author? The Living Author and the Business and Importance of the Humanities in South Asia

I present the views of textual realism and authorial realism, which consist of several common-sense principles. Accordingly, original meaning generally and authorial intent specifically are inescapably relevant to textual meaning. This being the case, I suggest that it is important for the teachers of English, literature, linguistics and other relevant fields of the humanities to train students to understand original meaning and authorial intent. Moreover, the branches of the humanities which help us access authorial contributions to textual meaning will continue to be relevant to academic fields of study and to cultural and transcultural experience generally.