Abstract

In this contribution, the property a text to be divided into “parts” is considered as one of the basic dimensions of written Textualtextuality. As such, the notion of “parts of text” is studied in the frame of a reflection about the discursive construction of “textual Textualtextual places”. The notion of “parts of text” is first clarified through its decomposition in two different categories, linked to a practice of text division: “dispositional parts of Partsdispositional parts of text” that depend on the internal structure of the discourse and “material parts of Partsmaterial parts of text” which are defined according to the material properties of the object on which the text is written. The coexistence of these two categories is taken into account to understand the general System to which they belong. Secondly, “parts of text” are distinguished from “Partsstretches of textStretches of text”, that is to say from another type of textual place defined by the use of linguistic elements such as ici or ci-dessous. These elements “map” the discourse, giving an image of what one can call its dynamic of Writingdynamic of writing. The whole study is based on the observation of linguistic elements belonging to contemporary printed texts written in the Western world and to various discursive genres.