What is an author? by M. Foucault

Foucault starts by saying that he is concentrating on thye relationship between text and author.
He states that "in writing, the point is not to manifest or exalt the act of writing, nor is it to pin a subject within language; it is, rather a quistion of creating a space into which the writing subject constantly disappears" (102). To me, this quote means that writing kills the author (maybe?). He often returns to the topic of death in writing, which of course, reminds me of Barths' "Death of the author". Although Foucault mentions that writing can also be a way of keeping the writer//his work from death, by leaving a legacy behind. He also discusses that we recognize an author by his works, since we can recognize his'her style of writing, which in turn makes the works original/authentic. In other words, we associate the author with is works and vice versa. Being an author of a work gives a special status to the discourse that is the written work. That is, his works are accepted differently from regular discourse (but what is the difference between a regular discourse and the one written my an author?)
An author function is given to the discourse by the existence and circulation in a society. This means that a writer is an author when his works are circulated among some group of people.
In the end, Foucault proposes that this function of the author will disappear, which will lead to the death of the author and his voice won't matter anymore. Rather, the influence on the reader and the meaning of the discourse will be more important.