Post-structuralism In America

In this paper,the French theorist Roland Barthes was taken as an example to introduce how the French theory spread into the United States,and accepted the transformation of the American critique,with the characteristics of American poststructuralist theory.First,the paper introduced the origin of the French theory: the French theory originated from philosophy.After the May 1968 events in France,the French left-wing intellectuals became unsure of the belief in Marxism.French theory became a new tool to criticize the Western cultural traditions.French theory,which is the knowledge of the public intellectuals in France,accidentally entered the academia in the United States.It is regarded as a kind of reading resource in American literary criticism.Thus,French theory,replacing the New Criticism,became the new centre of literary criticism.Among many French theorists,Roland Barthes' acceptance in the United States is highly representative.Barthes' theory is rich and varied,making him the only one experienced structuralism,deconstructionism and cultural studies.From the 1960 s to the 1990 s,the change of Barthes' image was a microcosm of the change of American literary criticism.All in all,the acceptance of French theory in the United States mainly presents three aspects: oriented theory,deconstruction,and the mass culture.From the deconstructionism to the post-structuralism,in the United States,the internal differences of the French theory are shrinking.The French theory became canonization with its expansion to the whole world.