DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES, SO WE TELL THEM INSTEAD: THE COMPLEXITIES AND ETHICS OF POSTHUMOUS PUBLICATION

Author

• Justin Hersey

Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Miller, Timothy

Abstract

This project examines some of the ethical consequences of posthumous publication of authors' unfinished works, private correspondence, and other materials, with the central example being the extensive catalogue of J.R.R. Tolkien published in the decades after this death by his son Christopher Tolkien. It builds a moral and philosophical framework for understanding the "posthumous harm" that can impact the deceased, for example when the desires they expressed in life are frustrated, or their reputations suffer damage when draft or private materials become public, especially for a wide audience. In the case of J.R.R. Tolkien, his Beowulf translation shows how an author's intentions for a work may actually be to not publish, as doing so contradicts their beliefs and values. Both literary executors and the consumer public that creates a market for such "new works" should more carefully evaluate the posthumous harm that posthumous publication can bring.

Extent

66 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2024.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Recommended Citation

Hersey, Justin, "DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES, SO WE TELL THEM INSTEAD: THE COMPLEXITIES AND ETHICS OF POSTHUMOUS PUBLICATION" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present. 1386.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/1386

Identifier

FA00014405

Format

pdf