Between myth and critique: the memory of May ’68

May 1968, more than a debate between memory and history, is a debate between myth and critique. Le mai français has been a continuous resource of debate and proliferation of ideas, and for this reason the recent position related to the official account or consensus on its significance, fabricated out of the commemorations, lacks plausibility. Starting with the double outburst of word and action (performance) which brought with it the movement, this paper takes into account the role played by the intellectuals in sixty-eight, before and after the May-June epicentre. From this perspective, it will be easier to determine the extent to which the intellectual debate maintained by the commemorative ritual either resulted in a separate ideology or thinking of the movement, which blurred the edges of its main contexts. By contrast, one could also conclude by supporting the present legacy of the 68th, quintessential to its memory