Abstract

Every now and then, France looks in the mirror and does not like what it sees. At that point, it begins a critical self-examination, sometimes only within the intellectual realm or, more precisely, within the literary field; at other times, it causes crises with repercussions throughout Europe. Obviously, such critical self-examinations ring a bell. But before analyzing more recent events, it helps to remember previous instances, beginning with the May 1958 crisis, and the troubled transition from the IV to the V Republic. In France, WWII left permanent, monumental, and unerasable traces, such as the bunkers on the French side…