Abstract: Since its appearance,Gérard Genette's paratext theory has triggered greatconcern and attention from the Chinese and western critics.There are some scholars who have made some supplements and amendments to it,and also many of them apply it into literary criticism.From the perspective of paratext theory,the object of literary research is the paratexts surrounding the edge of the text,such as the author's name,preface,dedication,epigraph,copyright page,etc.Re-incorporating the author into criticism,paratext theory effectively corrects the improper practice of separating the text from the author;introducing publishers into the framework of literary criticism,paratext theory not only expands the traditional literary criticism system,but also serves to limit readers' interpretation.At the same time,paratext theory promotes further development of narratology,makes literary research move from the center of text to edge,and combines the internal and external studies of literature,thus promoting the development of literary theory.In view of the interdependence between paratext and text,the boundaries between some paratexts and texts are blurred.While they possess the paratexts' attributes,they also have the texts' attributes,which proves the importance of the existence of paratext to text.

Key words: Gérard Genette, paratext, paratext theory, text, text theory