Studies On Ronland Barthes' Thoughts Of Deconstruction In The Field Of Literary Criticism

Roland Barthes(1915-1980), is one of the famous literary critics and theoreticians in France in the 20th century. His prolific academic works and practice had a major impact on the literary world in France and even the whole western academe. Owing to evidently insightful academic thoughts, his literate activities are usually regarded as two divisions: structuralism and the post-structuralism(deconstruction). Many scholars in China have studied his structuralism, but few his thoughts of deconstruction.This paper states a serious attempt after reading Barthes' writings to from some innovative and constructive ideas of his deconstruction in the field of literary criticism, thus completely understanding the meanings of his thoughts. Beginning with the concept of deconstruction as the logical starting point, it composes of three chapters: origins, connotations and the contemporary understanding of Barthes' thoughts of deconstruction in the field of literary criticism.The first chapter clarifies the origins of Barthes' thoughts of deconstruction in the field of literary criticism. On the basis of seeking for the relations among structuralism, post-structuralism and deconstruction, the origins of Barthes' thoughts of deconstruction in the field of literary criticism can be summarized in external and internal factors. The external factor was the happening of the May 68 and the influence of Derrida's theory upon deconstruction. The internal factor is Barthes' suspicion of the model of duality opposing, the function of center and monism in his earlier writings in the period of structuralism, which show there is a split in his thoughts. The second chapter illustrates the connotation of Barthes' thoughts of deconstruction in the field of literary criticism trying to analyse from the deconstruction of "author", "work", "reader" and "writing" four respects. Firstly, it explains the concept of "ecrivant" and "ecrivain"("writer" and "scriptor"), then the theory of "The death of the author". It showed that Barthes completed a total subversion of the identity and the deconstruction of the author.