S/Z

Roland Barthes was born in 1915 and studied French literature and classics at the University of Paris. After teaching French at universities in Romania and Egypt, he joined the Centre Nationale de Récherche Scientifique, where he devoted himself to research in sociology and lexicology. He was a professor at the Collège de France until his death in 1980.

"Taken together, The Pleasure of the Text and S/Z force us to notice how much of the most interesting thought today is being carried forward in what we used to call 'literary criticism', and how important Barthes's own contribution to redefinition of the field has been." (The New York Times Book Review)

• Preface. S/Z Appendices.1. Sarrasine, by Honoré de Balzac.2. Sequence of Actions.3. Summary of Contents.4. Key.