The Essay: To the Barricades!

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The Essay: To the Barricades!: French Philosophy

To the Barricades!

French Philosophy

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Michael Goldfarb remembers the books and films that influenced the events of 1968.

Michael Goldfarb remembers the books and films that anticipated and shaped the response to the student explosions in Paris, Prague, London and Chicago in 1968.

The path students took to the events of 1968 was signposted by cultural markers. There were books to read and films to watch (often derived from literary sources) and each anticipated and shaped the response to political events that would lead to student explosions in Paris, Prague, London and Chicago. 

Michael Goldfarb remembers the books he and his contemporaries read and the films they watched. He traces the way ideas in literature and cinema are absorbed into the mind and heart and become shapers of action. He also looks at how these books continue to influence those who were in the streets in 1968.

Using his trademark blend of historical research and memoir he recreates a time when, either side of the iron curtain, youth were united not just by music but by books and movies. Inspired by them, they risked everything to try and overthrow the existing order. 

Episode 2: French Philosophy: By the Sixties, Sartre had become something of a cliche but in France and elsewhere the philosophy of his friend Maurice Merleau-Ponty - wide ranging, interested in time and perception - was the secret influence on students.

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Michael Goldfarb remembers the books he and his contemporaries read and films they watched

Michael Goldfarb remembers the books he and his contemporaries read and the films they watched, tracing the way ideas in literature and cinema are absorbed into the mind and become

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