Barbara johnson biography

For the Irish Olympic hurdler, see Barbara Johnson (athlete). For 1991 Miss Turks and Caicos, see Miss Turks and Caicos.

American literary critic and translator (1947 – 2009)

Barbara Ellen Johnson (October 4, 1947 – August 27, 2009) was an American literary critic and translator, born in Boston.

Barbara johnson biography

She was a Professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Fredric Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society at Harvard University. Her scholarship incorporated a variety of structuralist and poststructuralist perspectives—including deconstruction, Lacanianpsychoanalysis, and feminist theory—into a critical, interdisciplinary study of literature.

As a scholar, teacher, and translator, Johnson helped make the theories of French philosopher Jacques Derrida 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 "Yale School" of academic li