This volume brings together the long out-of-print individual works "At the Zero Point of Literature," "Literature or History," and "Critique and Truth" from the early period of Barthes' work, making them accessible again. Here, the central concept of "écriture," or "writing style," is elaborated upon, and the now-classic distinction between "écrivain" and "écrivant," between "writer" and "scribe," is made; a way of engaging with literature is tested that unfolds the concepts and possibilities of a critique of literary texts from the spirit of structuralism. In their stylistic brilliance, intellectual depth, and scholarly foundation, Barthes' texts set standards that can still provide significant impulses for contemporary literary criticism.