What is an Author? Taking Confucius for an Example

自人類知識文明發展以來，對於「作者」的討論便從未間斷，其在知識組織領域中更被視為一個重要的詮釋資料元素，具有辨識和聚集的功能。本研究以孔子為個案，《史記?孔子世家》為主要分析文本來源，透過內容分析方法討論：（1）孔子所扮演的作者 角色為何？（2）孔子作為作者，有哪些與其相關的書目實體？（3）融合中西方的作者觀分析孔子所展現的作者功能為何？為了解答這些問題，本研究採取三階段分析策略：一、在文本中識別出可能的作者角色；二、標記出個別書目實體；三、解析作者與其他實體間的關係。經過初步的彙整與分析，本研究發現在《史記?孔子世家》中所揭露之孔子的作者角色可概分「創作者」、「編輯者」和「傳述者」等三種，進而分別闡述其內涵並解釋其中所涉及的書目實體和書目實體之間的關係，最後討論如何發揮其在書目中的功能。The proposed study is a case study of the author function by examining a famed “author” -Confucius. Preliminary results are presented of an analysis based on “The Hereditary House of Confucius” in The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian that paints a picture of Confucius as an author, as conceived in the 2nd century BCE (the Former Han dynasty). The study uses the method of qualitative content analysis to answer the following research questions: (1) What types of authorship is Confucius said to have performed according to his biography by Sima Qian? (2) What are the works related to Confucius? (3) What does each type of authorship entail? To answer these questions, a three-stage process is conducted to analyze the text: First, isolation of useful segments; then, identification and coding of relevant works mentioned in the biography; and finally, specification and analysis of the outcomes. Tentatively, the analysis has identified at least three types of authorship: writer, editor, and transmitter. As part of a larger study to examine the images of Confucius as an author over time, the primary purpose of the research reported here is to gain more understanding of the author function in Chinese culture. This study’s findings are undoubtedly important for expanding research on authorship in KO. Eventually such research will lead to improved KO system design, especially in the area of author data