The Wind From the East : French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s / Richard Wolin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wolin, Richard, author.

Contributor:

Wolin, Richard.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mao, Zedong, 1893-1976.

Mao, Zedong.

Mao, Zedong, 1893-1976--Influence.

Intellectuals--France--History--20th century.

Intellectuals.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (442 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

Second

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Michel Foucault, Jean-Paul Sartre, Julia Kristeva, Phillipe Sollers, and Jean-Luc Godard. During the 1960s, a who's who of French thinkers, writers, and artists, spurred by China's Cultural Revolution, were seized with a fascination for Maoism. Combining a merciless exposé of left-wing political folly and cross-cultural misunderstanding with a spirited defense of the 1960s, The Wind from the East tells the colorful story of this legendary period in France. Richard Wolin shows how French students and intellectuals, inspired by their perceptions of the Cultural Revolution, and motivated by utopian hopes, incited grassroots social movements and reinvigorated French civic and cultural life.Wolin's riveting narrative reveals that Maoism's allure among France's best and brightest actually had little to do with a real understanding of Chinese politics. Instead, it paradoxically served as a vehicle for an emancipatory transformation of French society. Recounting the cultural and political odyssey of French students and intellectuals in the 1960s, The Wind from the East illustrates how the Maoist phenomenon unexpectedly sparked a democratic political sea change in France.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface to the Second Edition

Prologue

Introduction: The Maoist Temptation

Part I - The Hour of Rebellion

1. Showdown at Bruay-en-Artois

2. France during the 1960s

3. May 1968: The Triumph of Libidinal Politics

4. Who Were the Maoists?

Excursus: On the Sectarian Maoism of Alain Badiou

Part II - The Hour of the Intellectuals

5. Jean-Paul Sartre's Perfect Maoist Moment

6. Tel Quel in Cultural-Political Hell

7. Foucault and the Maoists: Biopolitics and Engagement

8. The Impossible Heritage: From Cultural Revolution to Associational Democracy

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

ISBN:

9781400888443

1400888441

OCLC:

1007290633