--- product_id: 10360632 title: "S/Z: An Essay" brand: "roland barthesrichard millerrichard howard" price: "€ 28.38" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pt/products/10360632-s-z-an-essay store_origin: PT region: Portugal --- # S/Z: An Essay **Brand:** roland barthesrichard millerrichard howard **Price:** € 28.38 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** S/Z: An Essay by roland barthesrichard millerrichard howard - **How much does it cost?** € 28.38 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pt](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/10360632-s-z-an-essay) ## Best For - roland barthesrichard millerrichard howard enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted roland barthesrichard millerrichard howard brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description S/Z: An Essay ## Images ![S/Z: An Essay - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/710oDkinEdL.jpg) ![S/Z: An Essay - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81H56QnmK-L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Just read it *by D***Y on Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2014* S/Z is a crucial text for anyone interested in the history of literary criticism, as S/Z marks a major turning point in the discipline. Prior to S/Z the dominant mode of criticism was structuralism, which as its name implies was the study of structures. Analogically basing itself on the success of the study of structures in fields ranging from anatomy to chemistry, social structuralism sought to likewise identify a core structure to a text, in which the 'essence' of the text could be said to lie, independent of the outward details. However, at its basic level, a text is nothing more than a collection of words; the idea of a structure behind these words can not inhere in the words themselves, and therefore must be a product of the human mind attempting to make of these words. This is the realization that Barthes is more or less forced to reach in this study.Prima facie, this work is a work of hyper-structuralism. Barthes undertakes to comprehensively break down the text of 'Sarrisine,' a classic novella written by the early nineteenth-century French writer Honoré de Balzac. Going line by line, sometimes even phrase by phrase, Barthes divides the text up into constituent units, which he than analyzes in closer detail to see the ways in which the meaning of each unit is produced.By analyzing the text at such a close, fundamental level, Barthes ultimately undoes the project of structuralism at the same moment that he realizes the fullness of structuralism's effort. (Insert line about Hegel and how history always 'overcomes itself'). This is because Barthes is forced to realize that structure, at least when applied to texts, is not a given. What appears as structure is in fact the product of the reader's dialogue with the bare text; thus, there exist different structures for different readers, or even different structures for the same reader, if she is sufficiently sophisticated as to hold multiple, competing interpretations in her head at the same time. This of course opened up the door for post-structuralism, and its interest not in the structure of the text perse, but instead the ways in which interpretive groups impose structures upon texts.In terms of content, S/Z won't likely present you with any new cognitive information that you don't already have, assuming that most people who'd be interested in reading this text in full have already been exposed to the major ideas of literary theory in form or another. However, it's no exaggeration to call this book one of the most formative texts in literary and cultural studies of the later twentieth century; while it's easy to try to simply reduce the text to a cognitive summary, it's still well worth reading as an exercise in rigorous literary criticism, as well as a foundation from which to make historical and ideological sense of more recent movements in the discipline. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Buy from this seller with CONFIDENCE! *by A***M on Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2019* Just want to say the delivery was fast, the book was exactly as described. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Barthes and Poststructuralism *by V***V on Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2013* This is a must for anyone who is interested in learning about literary theory and poststructuralism. He helped me trudge through my graduate level literary theory class --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pt/products/10360632-s-z-an-essay](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/10360632-s-z-an-essay) --- *Product available on Desertcart Portugal* *Store origin: PT* *Last updated: 2026-05-04*