In this contribution, the property a text to be divided into "parts' is considered as one of the basic dimensions of written textuality. As such, the notion of "parts of text" is studied in the frame of a reflection about the discursive construction of "textual 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 text" (e.g. the chapter) that depend on the internal structure of the discourse and "material parts of text" (e.g. the page) which are defined according to the material properties of the object on which the text is written (e.g. the book). 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 'stretches of text", that is to say from another type of textual place defined by the use of linguistic elements such as ici (here) or ci-dessous (below). These elements "map" the discourse, giving an image of what one can call its dynamic 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.