Barbara Johnson

Barbara Johnson (1947–2009) was an American literary critic and theorist known for her influential work in deconstruction and literary theory. She taught at Yale University and later joined Harvard University, where she was a professor of English and Comparative Literature. Johnson’s scholarship explored the complexities of language, interpretation, and textual meaning, often engaging closely with nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature as well as psychoanalytic and feminist debates. Her books include *The Critical Difference* and *A World of Difference*, both widely read for their incisive analyses and lucid style. She also wrote on authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville.