Long live the revolution (French: Vive la révolution, VLR) was a French libertarian Maoist group[1][2][3] which appeared in 1968, led by Roland Castro and Tiennot Grumbach and founded by 40 people, mostly from the Maoist UJC (ml) and the 22 March Movement of Nanterre. Unlike many revolutionary Marxist-Leninist groups, VLR was distinguished by its festive and libertarian aspect.
Long Live the Revolution Vive la révolution | |
|---|---|
_N%C2%B01.png) The headline of the no. 1 of Tout! published by Vive la révolution. | |
| Abbreviation | VLR |
| Leader | Roland Castro |
| Founded | October 1968 |
| Dissolved | April 1971 |
| Split from | UJC (ml) |
| Headquarters | Nanterre |
| Newspaper | Tout! |
| Ideology | Maoism Libertarian socialism Mao-spontex |
| Political position | Far-left |
History
editFounded by Maoist dissidents from the Union of Marxist-Leninist Communist Youth (UJC (ml)) and the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of France (PCMLF), Vive le Communisme (VLC) appeared in October 1968 in the University of Nanterre.
In the 1969 French presidential election, VLC called for votes for the candidate of the Revolutionary Communist League, Alain Krivine.
In July 1969, VLC changed its name to Vive la révolution (VLR).
VLR dissolved itself in April 1971 but Tout! continued to appear until the July issue.
Tout!
editIn 1970-1971, VLR published Tout! (English: All!), a French language newspaper with a spontaneist Maoist or even libertarian tendency,[1][2] under the caption "Ce que nous voulons: tout", English: “What we want: everything”). With 50,000 copies printed, in 1971 the monthly was the most read and the most widely distributed in France among far-left journals.[4] Jean-Paul Sartre was mentioned on the last page as being the publication director. With a few exceptions, no article was signed, except by initials or first names.
The 17 issues published were distinguished by a dominant iconographic part and the abundant use of flat-bottomed "psychedelic" color inks - adopted from the British underground press such as Oz, which, along with Actuel, was a unique case in the anti-commercial press of the time. Editorially, it had a very free and virulent tone. In particular, controversial themes for the time were discussed, including radical feminism and homosexuality,[5] as well as many references to the Black Panthers.
Notable members
editAmong its leaders, there was the architect Roland Castro, the gay militant writer Guy Hocquenghem, the feminist sociologists Nadja Ringart and Françoise Picq (who would participate in the creation of the MLF in 1970[6]), the future diplomat François Bujon de l'Estang, Marc Hatzfeld, the co-author of the Black Book of Communism, Stéphane Courtois, and Jean-Paul Ribes, journalist and future president of the Support Committee for the Tibetan People.[7]
Among the occasional cartoonists, there are Georges Wolinski and Siné.
In 1971, during the crackdown on a demonstration banned by the prefecture, one of the young VLR activists, Richard Deshayes, who was rescuing a demonstrator on the ground, was blinded and disfigured by a tear gas grenade fired by the special brigades of intervention. The photo of his bloodied face made the headlines of Tout! and was displayed around France on a poster.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b Kervran, Perrine; Kien, Anäïs (2010). "Le maoïsme libertaire". Les années Actuel: contestations rigolardes et aventures modernes (in French). Paris: Le Mot et le reste. p. 47. ISBN 978-2360540143. OCLC 778353995.
- ^ a b Gauthier, Guy (2004). Le Cinéma militant reprend le travail. Condé-sur-Noireau: Corlet-Télérama. p. 82. ISBN 2847060391. OCLC 249224257.
- ^ Dejean, Mathieu (9 March 2018). "Comment le maoïsme a séduit une partie de la jeunesse des années 68 en France". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). Paris: Les Editions indépendantes. ISSN 0298-3788. OCLC 716205151. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ Shepard, Todd (2008). 1962, comment l'indépendance algérienne a transformé la France (Thesis) (in French). Paris: Payot. ISBN 978-2-228-90330-1. OCLC 436970466.
- ^ Hamon, Hervé; Rotman, Patrick (1998). Génération (in French). Vol. II. Paris: Éd. du Seuil. p. 336. ISBN 2020343509. OCLC 467006013.
- ^ Picq, Françoise (7 October 2008). "MLF: 1970, année zéro". Libération (in French). Paris: Altice. ISSN 0335-1793. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
- ^ Penot-Lacassagne, Olivier; Bourseiller, Christophe (2013). "militant de Vive la Révolution". Contre-Cultures! (in French). Paris: CNRS. ISBN 9782271075079. OCLC 920322537.
- ^ Castro, Roland (2010). La fabrique du rêve (in French). Paris: Archipel. ISBN 978-2809803709. OCLC 1104235115.
Bibliography
edit- Beuvain, Christian; Schoumacher, Florent (2012). "Chronologie des maoïsmes en France, des années 1930 à 2010". Dissidences (in French). ISSN 2118-6057. OCLC 793464080. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- Dejean, Mathieu (9 March 2018). "Comment le maoïsme a séduit une partie de la jeunesse des années 68 en France". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). Paris: Les Editions indépendantes. ISSN 0298-3788. OCLC 716205151. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- McGrogan, Manus (2010). Tout! in context 1968-1973: French radical press at the crossroads of far left, new movements and counterculture (PDF) (PhD). Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth. OCLC 1063530614. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2013.