Le néo-polar est-il un avatar littéraire de Mai 68 ?

Abstract

Among the many secondary genres of the contemporary French detective story, the Neo polar is a real gem because it is not common when a social movement gives birth to a literary avatar. It is an avatar for two reasons. First it adheres to the values of May 68: challenging authority, questioning the consumer society, claiming sexual freedom and counter culture. Nada by J.P Manchette and État d’urgence by J.F Vilar are two novels which belong to a Neo whodunit inspiration which reinterprets history. Then comes the time of acknowledgment and the novelists who, for most of them, took part in the events are harsh critics and express it in Suzanne et les ringards by J.B Pouy and la bête et la belle by T. Jonquet: what is left of May 68.? This second inspiration is social and bitter. The disappointed activist writers keep fighting by describing the suburbs, the factories and the lives that are led there.

Keywords

• literature
• May 68
• Neo polar
• hope
• disillusion