"However it is obvious that even within the realm of discourse a person can be the author of much more than a book--of a theory, for instance, of a tradition or a discipline within which new books and authors can proliferate" (What Is an Author? 145)
Indeed, Foucault admitted to the narrow view of the author-function if it is seen rigidly as a unique entity of books and texts. The fact is that the author-function can be manifested and studied in different genres: painting, music and technical fields. Even when we talk about discourse, an author can be more than just an author of a book; but a pioneer, a founder of great theories with the pontential of starting off a new discipline altogether. These pioneers include "Homer, Aristole and the Church Fathers...first mathematicians and the originators of the Hippocratic tradition" (145). Worthy of note, as pointed out by Foucault, are the differences between these founders and the authors who are the "initiators of discursive practices" (145).