French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Gobille, Le Mai 68 des écrivains
History, Politics and Society
The Writers' May 68: Political Crisis and Literary Avant-Garde
Boris Gobille
Publication date: 11/01/2018
Publisher: CNRS
ISBN: 978-2-271-11890-5
EAN: 9782271118905
411 p.
May-June 1968: protests sweep across vast sectors of French society, from high school and university students to factory workers, office employees, corporate executives, and cultural figures. Occupied universities, factories, and institutions are transformed into a massive stage where everything is subjected to critical scrutiny: exploitation, alienation, Gaullism, social norms, hierarchies, domination, and authority. May-June 1968: protests sweep across vast sectors of French society, from high school and university students to factory workers, office employees, corporate executives, and cultural figures.
Occupied universities, factories, and institutions are transformed into a massive stage where everything is subjected to critical scrutiny: exploitation, alienation, Gaullism, social norms, hierarchies, domination, and authority. This extraordinary outpouring of speech is marked by unprecedented creativity. "Everyone a creator!" runs one slogan; "Write everywhere!" urges another. Roland Barthes celebrates the "wild speech" of May, while Michel de Certeau observes that "a crowd has become poetic."
It was difficult for writers, particularly those of the avant-garde, to remain aloof from this profound upheaval of the symbolic order... Boris Gobille's study is devoted precisely to these literary avant-gardes. During these feverish weeks, they take to the streets, issue numerous public statements, form collectives, and experiment with new connections between writing and "revolution"...
These are among the key themes explored in this book, which revisits the question of literary commitment and the responsibility of writers in the face of the political events of their time. We encounter surrealists, existentialists, structuralists, communists, "leftists," and journals such as Tel Quel, Change, Action poétique, Les Lettres Françaises, and La Nouvelle Critique, alongside Sartre, Beauvoir, Aragon, Sollers, Faye, Roubaud, Pingaud, Blanchot, Duras, and Mascolo—among many others, more or less obscure, more or less renowned, all acting as participants in this singular adventure that saw writers seize hold of '68 just as '68 seized hold of writers.
Read the introduction and table of contents.
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An article about this book can be read on en-attendant-nadeau.fr:
"Beneath the Paving Stones, Utopia", by Alain Joubert.
And on laviedesidees.fr:
The events of May and June 1968 in France represented a major social and political upheaval, characterized by widespread strikes, student occupations, and a fundamental questioning of established authorities, institutions, and traditional hierarchies. This period of intense collective mobilization generated a unique climate of public speech and cultural expression that deeply affected various sectors of society. Within this context, intellectuals and cultural figures found themselves confronting an environment where political dissent and creative output intersected in unprecedented ways, prompting renewed debates concerning the role of art and literature in times of crisis.
Boris Gobille examines the specific reactions and activities of literary avant-gardes during this turbulent period, focusing on how writers, collectives, and prominent journals responded to the political events of their time. The study revisits questions regarding literary commitment by exploring the involvement of numerous figures from diverse intellectual currents, including surrealists, existentialists, and structuralists. Readers interested in the intersection of French literature, intellectual history, and political engagement during the twentieth century may find this volume relevant.