The back cover of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictee describes the book as "A classic work of autobiography that transcends the self." This sentence is contradictory. The Oxford English Dictionary defines autobiography as "a self-given account of a person's life." If it is indeed an autobiography, Dictee is unorthodox, because it discusses the accounts of many other people instead of focusing only on the author. Furthermore, the variety of media in Dictee multiplies the unusualness of the book. The identification of the plurality inherent in the material and structural levels of Dictee shows that the contradictions originate from considering Dictee as a 'work'. Roland Barthes' approach provides a more accurate description of Dictee, as a set of self-deference. However, while Barthes claims the complete removal of the author from the text, Cha manages to assert his authorship by deliberately altering the details of his text, as if his memories were blurry. Working with pluralities in mediation and structure, Cha posits Dictee as the text projected through the author's memory. The use of various media in Dictee implies that interpretive reading on Dictee does not work. It is difficult to classify Dictee in a genre, because it mixes different forms of writing, some quoted and others original. Furthermore, the plurality of text extends the written medium into the graphic realm. Instead of allocating images or texts separately, Cha interweaves them into Dictee. For example, the Clio section begins with a photograph of Yu Guan Soon, followed by her biography, calligraphy of Chinese characters meaning woman and man, and an excerpt from a Korean history book. There is also an article on Japanese forces in Korea,...... middle of paper... the author's subjectivity returns to a more fundamental level, to the projection of the Text. Since the Text embodies the author's legacy (the errors), the author also becomes part of the Text. Thus, by "playing" with the Text, Cha achieved the goal he had presented on behalf of Sappho: "May I write words more naked than flesh, stronger than bones, more resistant than tendons, sensitive than nerves." The words written by Cha belong to the Text. They are preserved in collective memory, safe from the innate decay of physical existence. Works Cited Cha, Theresa Hak Kyung. Ditto. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009. Print."Autobiography." Oxford English Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2011. Network. 10 March 2014.Barthes, Roland. “The death of the author”, “From the work to the text”. Image, music, text. Trans. Stephan Heath. New York: Hill and Wang, 1978. 142-148, 155-164. Press.