33:
370:, guilt and innocence)" is necessarily founded upon "a repression of differences within entities" (pp. x-xi). In this book, Johnson explores how the unknown and the unknowable function in a text. The "unknown" to which she refers is not something concealed or distant, but a fundamental unknowability that constitutes and underlies our linguistic cognition.
561:, she makes a turn to a "real world," but one which is always left in quotation marks—"real," but nonetheless inseparable from its textual, written aspect. In a chapter of the book entitled, "Is Writerliness Conservative?" Johnson examines the political implications of "undecidability" in writing, as well as the consequences of labeling the
431:
as a whole and her work in particular. But she also calls the "sameness" of that white Euro-American literary and critical tradition into question, undertaking a thorough interrogation of its boundaries. In addition, Johnson expands the scope of her literary subjects to include black and/or women
581:
that "if interpretive closure always violates textual indeterminacy, if authority is perhaps fundamentally non-textual, reducing to identity what should remain different, Johnson's work could best be summarized as an attempt to delay the inevitable reductionist desire for meaning".
528:
as an ultimately impossible endeavor because the "mother" or original language is already, intrinsically untranslatable from signifier to signified. The more one attempts to translate a work into comprehensibility, the more likely one is to stray from its original ambiguity.
339:
and marginalized readers to enter texts at the locations where the author tries to "dominate, erase, or distort" the various "other" claims that are made through language and reassert their identities.
667:
537:, elucidates the complicating but necessary fact of language: that it is foreign to itself. Every attempt to translate sets the language against itself, creating new tensions as it progresses.
308:"—as the foundation of his theory that language is a "structure," a system of relations governed by a set of rules. Johnson then goes on to describe the central roles played by
190:
accessible to
English-speaking audiences in the United States at a time when they had just begun to gain recognition in France. Accordingly, she is often associated with the "
202:
Barbara
Johnson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the only daughter of Gilbert and Priscilla (James) Johnson. She graduated from Westwood High School in 1965, attended
427:. Johnson wants to take her investigation beyond "the white male Euro-American literary, philosophical, psychoanalytical, and critical canon" that dominates the
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401:), the result would be the annihilation of that object. Language, thus, can only function upon imperfection, instability, and unknowability.
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1186:
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116:
646:'s work, extending the problems posed in his essays "Autobiography as De-Facement" and "Anthropomorphism and Trope in Lyric" (in
642:, re-appears in a distorted fashion in women's writing. Johnson's concern with prosopopoeia represents an ongoing elaboration of
1166:
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97:
54:
47:
69:
630:
that deal with women's experiences following abortion. Johnson argues that the analogy between creative writing and giving
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76:
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655:
186:
study of literature. As a scholar, teacher, and translator, Johnson helped make the theories of French philosopher
969:
614:, and other debates surrounding who or what qualifies as a person. "Apostrophe" juxtaposes Romantic poets such as
83:
17:
651:
1181:
920:
473:
in light of the backlash it faced over the course of the 1980s and early '90s. Through the double lenses of
420:
65:
43:
717:
327:. Following Derrida, Johnson argues that reading is not the task of grasping the true single meaning of a
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767:
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354:(1980), Johnson argues that any model of difference as a polarized difference "between entities (
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happen"—the limits of the political are themselves fraught with political implications.
779:
550:
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470:
320:
289:
175:
168:
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in 2001. She continued to write and advise graduate students until her death in 2009.
606:(conferring human attributes on a nonhuman entity) within contemporary disputes about
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to political action and of separating linguistic contradictions, complexities, and
323:' account of the relation between signifier and signified and the "structure" of
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32:
456:'s history and an examination of the differences within and between feminisms.
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inert. She writes that, if "poetry makes nothing happen," poetry also "makes
281:
238:
910:, No. 63, "The Pedagogical Imperative: Teaching as a Literary Genre" (1982)
397:
and actually "hit" its intended object (just as Billy Budd hits and kills
819:
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Throughout her work, Johnson emphasizes both the difficulty of applying
288:
concept in twentieth-century French thought. She posits French theorist
955:, "Fors: The Anglish Words of Nicolas Abraham and Maria Torok," in the
828:
Défigurations du langage poétique: La seconde révolution baudelairienne
428:
269:
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143:. She was a Professor of English and Comparative Literature and the
140:
452:(1998), offers a continued critique of the terms in play throughout
210:
in 1977. Her graduate studies occurred during the emergence of the "
801:
and Thomas McLaughlin (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1990)
759:
743:
631:
355:
393:." She argues that if a description could perfectly describe its
385:'s novel as a performance of the irreconcilability between the "
478:
814:, ed. Joseph F. Graham (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985)
484:
scandal and the academic community's reaction to the murder of
148:
26:
878:
598:), Johnson discusses the recurrence of rhetorical figures of
735:, 10 Yale J.L. & Human. 549 (Summer 1998) (reprinted in
691:
Mother
Tongues: Sexuality, Trials, Motherhood, Translation
1052:. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 30.
1037:. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 2.
206:
from 1965 to 1969, and completed a Ph.D. in French at
1048:
774:(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1997)
237:
became an essential feature of
Johnson's approach to
129:
American literary critic and translator (1947 – 2009)
818:
The
Critical Difference: Essays in the Contemporary
135:(October 4, 1947 – August 27, 2009) was an American
837:, no. 55/56 (1977): pp. 457–505 (reprinted in
833:"The Frame of Reference: Poe, Lacan, Derrida," in
222:. The Yale School's characteristic integration of
894:(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990)
884:Consequences of Theory: Selected Papers from the
824:(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980)
807:(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987)
419:(1987), reflects a move away from the strictly
1066:(1994). "Introduction". In Johnson, B. (ed.).
594:) and "Anthropomorphism in Lyric and Law" (in
590:In "Apostrophe, Animation, and Abortion" (in
8:
1138:, Pembroke Center Archives, Brown University
939:(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981)
852:The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism
634:, traditionally employed by male poets like
602:(an address to a dead or absent person) and
159:. Her scholarship incorporated a variety of
929:(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007)
904:(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989)
784:(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998)
693:(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003)
687:(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008)
545:Deconstruction, indeterminacy, and politics
720:(New York: Routledge, 2000) (reprinted in
520:In "Taking Fidelity Philosophically" (in
218:that included Johnson's thesis director,
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
1121:Difference: Reading with Barbara Johnson
981:
469:(1994) approaches the general state of
810:"Taking Fidelity Philosophically," in
733:Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities
260:), Johnson outlines the importance of
53:Please improve this article by adding
20:. For 1991 Miss Turks and Caicos, see
1111:at the Harvard University Press Blog.
778:The Feminist Difference: Literature,
377:, "Melville's Fist: The Execution of
7:
1132:, Barbara Johnson's memorial service
898:A New History of French Literature,
16:For the Irish Olympic hurdler, see
1227:American women non-fiction writers
1207:21st-century American philosophers
1202:20th-century American philosophers
1070:. Blackwell Publishers. p. 8.
1014:. John Simon Guggenheim Foundation
795:Critical Terms for Literary Study,
194:" of academic literary criticism.
14:
1222:20th-century French women writers
1217:21st-century American translators
586:Prosopopoeia and anthropomorphism
258:Critical Terms for Literary Study
256:In her 1990 essay, "Writing" (in
618:with twentieth-century poems by
31:
1177:American women literary critics
1082:"Literary Luminary Passes Away"
503:, and the misinterpretation of
248:in 1985 for French Literature.
577:writes in his introduction to
448:. Her subsequent collection,
1:
1115:Literary luminary passes away
880:(New York: Basic Books, 1993)
557:from political questions. In
55:secondary or tertiary sources
511:The problematics of language
1232:21st-century American women
1197:American women philosophers
846:Edited volumes and projects
666:Johnson was diagnosed with
648:The Rhetoric of Romanticism
516:The question of translation
423:context of her analyses in
1248:
1187:Harvard University faculty
1109:Barbara Johnson remembered
1068:The Wake of Deconstruction
970:List of deconstructionists
788:The Wake of Deconstruction
731:in Lyric and Law," in the
579:The Wake of Deconstruction
467:The Wake of Deconstruction
461:The Wake of Deconstruction
373:In one of the articles in
15:
1172:American literary critics
830:(Paris: Flammarion, 1979)
812:Difference in Translation
790:(Oxford: Blackwell, 1994)
522:Difference in Translation
18:Barbara Johnson (athlete)
1212:20th-century translators
874:(New York: Norton, 2001)
139:and translator, born in
764:Poetics of the Americas
565:and the undecidable as
533:, with his thoughts on
450:The Feminist Difference
425:The Critical Difference
410:The Feminist Difference
375:The Critical Difference
352:The Critical Difference
345:The Critical Difference
268:. She argues that the
252:Overview of major works
167:perspectives—including
1167:Yale University alumni
1162:Oberlin College alumni
1136:Barbara Johnson Papers
992:Folsom Funeral Service
300:—encompassing both a "
42:relies excessively on
1123:, a special issue of
1050:A World of Difference
1035:A World of Difference
990:"Johnson, Barbara E."
945:, "Freud's Hand," in
805:A World of Difference
592:A World of Difference
559:A World of Difference
524:), Johnson describes
417:A World of Difference
415:Johnson's next book,
406:A World of Difference
294:Ferdinand de Saussure
246:Guggenheim Fellowship
133:Barbara Ellen Johnson
22:Miss Turks and Caicos
1117:The Harvard Crimson.
1033:Johnson, B. (1987).
1012:"Barbara E. Johnson"
718:Rebecca L. Walkowitz
616:Percy Bysshe Shelley
612:corporate personhood
495:, Johnson discusses
442:James Weldon Johnson
1086:The Harvard Crimson
947:Yale French Studies
908:Yale French Studies
872:Jeffery J. Williams
835:Yale French Studies
772:Jefferson Humphries
438:Dorothy Dinnerstein
292:' appropriation of
1192:American feminists
949:, No. 55-56 (1979)
756:Zora Neale Hurston
737:Persons and Things
722:Persons and Things
706:The Turn to Ethics
685:Persons and Things
596:Persons and Things
434:Zora Neale Hurston
296:'s concept of the
276:) is an important
244:She was awarded a
233:into the study of
182:—into a critical,
157:Harvard University
921:Stéphane Mallarmé
886:English Institute
856:Vincent B. Leitch
854:, Principal ed.,
839:The Purloined Poe
799:Frank Lentricchia
782:, Race and Gender
668:cerebellar ataxia
432:writers, such as
381:," Johnson reads
362:, man and woman,
319:in destabilizing
228:poststructuralist
184:interdisciplinary
165:poststructuralist
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729:Anthropomorphism
714:Beatrice Hanssen
656:African-American
620:Gwendolyn Brooks
604:anthropomorphism
575:Harold Schweizer
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216:literary critics
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864:Laurie A. Finke
860:William E. Cain
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748:Intertextuality
710:Marjorie Garber
696:"Using People:
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624:Lucille Clifton
588:
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518:
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348:
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180:feminist theory
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1018:29 November
996:29 November
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890:, ed. with
888:, 1987-1988
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567:politically
539:Translation
526:translation
475:Paul de Man
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1091:2021-09-13
976:References
822:of Reading
758:, and the
535:différance
379:Billy Budd
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274:l'Ă©criture
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391:signified
387:signifier
306:signified
304:" and a "
302:signifier
282:political
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820:Rhetoric
652:feminist
608:abortion
555:polysemy
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