When Insubordination Is Declared: Maurice Blanchot between 1958-1968

As the latest in the series of “moments of madness” (A. Zolberg) which mark out the revolutionary history of France, May 68 remains quietly hidden behind the narrative in which it is framed. By examining the political activity of Maurice Blanchot between 1958 and 1968, this article will seek to define the highly original notion of insubordination that motivates this activity, to define the concept of rights that derives from it, and to see in the Declaration to which the right to insubordination gives rise a mode of language by means of which Blanchot will give literature a priority in politics that is entirely new.