In the late 1970s, structuralism, deconstructionism, and semiotic theories from Europe and America were introduced to Australia, and Roland Barthes' English translated papers were first published in Australia. In 1981, Sydney held the "Semiotics in Australia" academic conference to reflect on and critique traditional literary and historical research. Journals such as "Arena" and "Intervention" have begun to pay attention to new foreign theories, and local consumer publishing houses have been established. In the first half of the 1980s, the theoretical era arrived in the Australian literary criticism community. Robert Dixon pointed out that the arrival of theory disrupted the public sphere of literary criticism in Australia in the 1980s, disrupting the original order. Megan Morris and Anne Friedman pointed out that foreign theories have caused division in the Australian literary criticism community, with some welcoming and some opposing. Australian literary criticism has split into two generations under theoretical shock. Australian literary criticism has experienced anxiety and uncertainty under theoretical shock, facing challenges in discourse selection, the relationship between critics and readers, and critical space. This article analyzes the works of critics such as John Dok, Howard Felprin, and Graham Turner, sorts out their positions and attitudes in the face of Western theories, as well as their underlying value orientations, and examines the process of localizing Western theories in Australian literary criticism.

1、 Structure defense

In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a heated debate in the field of Australian literary criticism, where traditional nationalism and new critical methods of Leavism were in opposition to each other. John Dok extensively documented this debate and expressed his dissatisfaction with the new criticism in his book 'Critique of the Situation'. He believes that New Criticism, as a formalistic criticism method, became the dominant paradigm during the Cold War and had a negative impact on the development of Australian literature. After the 1970s, New Criticism was challenged by left-wing critical thinking, but with the introduction of structuralism and deconstruction theory, the Australian critical community in the early 1980s showed a formalistic tendency, which raised concerns for Doc.

2、 Deconstruction Solution

In the mid-1980s, Australian critic Howard Phelps began to delve into and disseminate Western theories, particularly deconstructionism. Felprin has taught at several universities in the United States and later worked at the University of Melbourne and Macquarie University in Australia. His works cover Shakespearean studies and literary theory, with "Beyond Deconstruction" delving into new theories in Europe and America in detail. In the book, Felprin reviews New Criticism, Marxist literary theory, structuralism, and deconstruction theory, and expresses his views on structural/post structuralism and semiotics in the introduction and chapter six. He believes that the core of structuralism is the scientificization of literary research, but points out its problems in the pursuit of scientificization, such as Bart's excessive emphasis on textual grammar. Felprin also criticized the structuralist tendency in Marxist literary theory, believing that it has problems in the practice of literary criticism. He holds a positive attitude towards deconstructionism, refutes misunderstandings about it, and uses the deconstructive criticism of the Yale School as an example to demonstrate his in-depth interpretation of texts. Felprin advocates for the formation of a post structuralist literary criticism in Australia, which neither blindly pursues textual meaning nor presupposes meaning, but rather critiques based on textual practice under the influence of pluralistic theory. He believes that this critical approach is more in line with the characteristics of literary research and helps promote the development of literary criticism in Australia.

3、 The use of symbols

In the chapter "The Use of Symbols" of the paper, the author explores how Australian critic Graham Turner applied Western theories to the study of narrative in Australian novels and films. Turner's monograph 'National Fiction' reveals the forms and meanings of these narratives in specific cultural contexts by analyzing Australian literature and film works. Turner believes that there is a symbiotic relationship between culture and narrative, and the choice of narrative text reflects the values, beliefs, and ideologies of culture. He paid special attention to the portrayal of the living environment and individual subjects in Australian narratives, as well as the representation of nationalism. Turner pointed out that characters in Australian literature and film often face challenges from their natural environment, exhibiting a pessimistic mood that reflects a political choice in Australian society regarding the relationship between self and social rights. In addition, Turner also analyzed the skepticism towards individuality and differences in Australian literature, as well as how individualism is drowned out by "camaraderie". Through these analyses, Turner demonstrated how to apply semiotic theories from Europe and America to the study of Australian culture, thereby updating the perspective of Australian literary criticism.

4、 Conclusion

In the 1980s, European and American theories such as structuralism and post structuralism had an impact on Australian literary research, and critics had mixed reactions to it. The Australian critical community has gone through a process of resistance, digestion, and integration of European and American theories, ultimately achieving localization. The fusion of theories has promoted a re examination of traditional writers such as Henry Lawson, bringing about new literary discoveries. At the same time, local critical paradigms such as feminism and Marxism have also been influenced by structure, deconstruction, and semiotics, such as Kay Shaffer's book "Women and the Jungle". Edward Said pointed out that the dissemination of theories between different cultures may encounter resistance or variation, and early acceptance in Australia suggests that foreign theories can drive local critical innovation. Since the mid-1980s, deconstruction theory and semiotics have been widely applied in the study of Australian literature, particularly in women's literature, indigenous literature, immigrant literature, and postcolonial literature. Bill Ashcroft and others' "The Empire of Reverse Writing" placed Australian literature in the context of world literature and contributed to postcolonial literary criticism. In the 1990s, more critics influenced by theory participated in international literary theory innovation, such as postcolonial ecological literary criticism, cultural studies, and multicultural criticism. The early influence of European and American theories provided inspiration for the Australian literary criticism community to create its own theoretical discourse system and prepared conditions for its equal participation in global literary theory construction.