The creator function, post-structuralism, and the perils of terminological dissonance

A broadly interdisciplinary field is emerging to study creators, referred to as “creator studies”, “platforms and cultural production studies”, “influencer studies”, and “ wanghong studies”. Yet the subject of this field—the creator—is still in the process of “being born” or constructed. The definition of the creator that will inevitably stabilize and be governmentalized remains uncertain and contested, shaped by corporations, states, scholars, and creators themselves. Drawing on Foucault's concept of the author-function and framed by the concept of the creator, this essay analyzes five major creator constructions: the content creator, platform-based cultural producer, influencer, precarious worker, and celebrated entrepreneur to assess their functions, dysfunctions, possibilities and limitations. We advocate for terminological coherence, describing how ongoing terminological dissonance carries real-world consequences for creators and creator governance. In this way, our deconstruction is also an act of construction: aimed at building a more grounded and critical field of creator studies.