This study examines, through close reading of a wide range of texts, some of the ways Barthes viewed his own activity of writing. For him, writing was a highly figural activity - like a metaphor, what it conveyed set up a force-field of different meanings.

`Andrew Brown has made an extensive study of Barthes' written discourse ... Andrew Brown's book is useful, precisely because it underlines the often romantic, utopian nature of Barthes' writing. Furthermore, its methodology, despite the post-structuralist logic, indicates a way of approaching Barthes' attachment to l'histoire profonde, and to its plasticite, which he admired in Brecht's work.' Modern and Contemporary France 1993 `Undoubtedly, Dr Brown's outstanding book on Barthes' later writings ... is sympathetic and positive ... This new study of Barthes ... has ... managed to elucidate Barthes' writings with clarity, wit and subtlety ... I recommend this book as a great pleasure to read.' `Andrew Brown's monograph ... highlights the politicized as well as paradoxically personal - that is, autobiographically committed - idiom of literary criticism now in fashion in the United States.' Times Literary Supplement 'Andrew Brown has made an extensive study of Barthes' written discourse ... Andrew Brown's book is useful, precisely because it underlines the often romantic, utopian nature of Barthes' writing. Furthermore, its methodology, despite the post-structuralist logic, indicates a way of approaching Barthes' attachment to l'histoire profonde, and to its plasticité, which he admired in Brecht's work.' Andy Stafford, University of Nottingham, Modern & Contemporary France, 1993 'This is a very well=written study of a wide range of Barthes's work. It is a revised Ph.D. thesis, which is clearly based on extensive research, on careful reading of some of Barthes's lesser-known texts. Brown's book is important as a serious engagement with under-explored areas of Barthes's writing,' Diana Knight, University of Nottingham, MLR. Vol 89. Part 4 `The subject of this careful study is Roland Barthes as a writer. The figures of Writing counts amoung a growing number of books that take seriously Barthes labour as a critic, as a creative observer of culture, and as an artist...the treatment of the graphic character of writing, and the closely argued sections on framing, scribbling, silence, and trauma - stand as strong and enduring contributions. These parts of the book renew not only our appreciation of Barthes but also and especially our allegiance to art and literature.' Modern Philology