Visual Communications of May 1968 in France in the XXI century: Slogans, Posters, Cinema

The article examines the influence of visual communications formed during the May events of 1968 on modern culture in France. The study of this problem may result in the elaboration of a scientific understanding of the peculiarities of the visual symbolism of protest in graphic arts and cinema after the strikes of May’68.

The ideas of the events of May 1968 remain relevant even at the end of the second decade of the 21st century. The genres and visual images, formed under the influence of strikes and demonstrations, have found their way into the Internet environment, modern journalism, advertising, PR campaigns and art. In 2018, on the 50th anniversary of May’68, students in France protested against education reform once again and used the visual images and means that appeared during the events of May 1968. In 2020, during the global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, some slogans and genres that took shape during the crisis of 1968 became relevant once again.

Criticizing the wealthy strata of the population and the current government, the participants in the May movement intended to switch over to cheap and mass production. As a result, a whole complex of new visual forms was formed in France.

These visual forms become relevant again during periods of social and political crises in French society. Moreover, in modern France, communications of May’68 are not only used in their original form, but are often adapted to current conditions, news background and supplemented with modern visual symbols and speech patterns. All of it testifies to the universality of the "language of protest" invented by the strikers in 1968. The main characteristics that modern visual communications have in common with the visual communications of May’68 are the principles of anonymity and collectivity, which are readily evident in the Internet nowadays.