196 Derrida 1963–1983
the fi rst Colloque de Cluny took place, on the theme ‘Linguistics
and Literature’. Derrida did not attend, but his work was frequently
mentioned. Over and above the themes under discussion, the
explicit purpose of the gathering was to ‘break the many walls that
separate diff erent fi elds’ to ‘fi nd grounds for a fruitful exchange’.^30
In the view of one of those who took part, both sides could feel
a certain satisfaction: the Communist Party could fi nally emerge
from its dogmatism and sclerosis, while the avant-garde could feel
anchored by its responsibility and political activism. The concrete
results of this theoretical rapprochement were soon evident: on 24
April, Les Lettres françaises devoted its fi rst page to Jacques Henric
interviewing Sollers under the title ‘Writing and revolution’.
Neither the Communist Party, nor Tel Quel, saw May 1968 coming.
Neither did Althusser or Derrida, even though they came into
daily contact with the most politically active students. Vincent
Descombes puts the matter very well, when he described May ’68 as
‘a month in which the French educated classes had the surprise of
their lives. The revolution which had been spoken of for so long was
triggered off without warning. Yet perhaps this revolution was not a
revolution after all... [.. .] The fi rst victim of the upheaval was the
man professing to knowledge, the teacher [.. .].’^31
The events broke out at the Sorbonne on 3 May, with a
de monstration against the closing of the university at Nanterre and
a number of students being brought before the disciplinary commis-
sion. Within days, the whole Latin Quarter was in uproar. From 9
May onwards, the movement started to reach students in the prov-
inces and developed extremely rapidly. Two days later, the main
trade unions called for a general strike. On 13 May, a crowd nearly
a million strong marched through the streets of Paris, from the
Gare de l’Est to the Place Denfert-Rochereau. This demonstration,
the biggest since the Liberation, temporarily united students and
workers, chanting ‘Ten years, that’s enough!’ and ‘Happy Birthday,
General!’ Marching with the Tel Quel writers, Derrida bumped into
Maurice de Gandillac who, to his dismay, asked him how he was
getting on with his thesis.
Those weeks of tumult, in which it was diffi cult to travel between
Paris and Fresnes, brought Derrida into closer contact with Jean
Genet, and he had dinner with him privately on several occa-
sions. Derrida was later to remember vividly their nocturnal strolls
through Paris, sometimes walking together until daybreak. ‘Genet,
in those streets without cars, in this completely immobilized, para-
lysed country, which had run out of petrol, kept saying: “Ah, how
beautiful! Ah, how beautiful! Ah, how elegant!” ’^32
Maurice Blanchot, whom Derrida continued to see on a regular
basis, was also fi lled with enthusiasm. The author of Thomas the