France withdraws acts of homage to Celine for their antisemitism
"After much thinking and not acting under the influence the excitement, we decided not to include acts of homage to Celine" said Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand, on Friday. Celine
is author of "Voyage au bout de la nuit" ("Journey to the End of
night ') and' Mort on credit '( ' Death on credit '). He also wrote anti-Semitic pamphlets.
The French government has decided
withdrawing tribute acts planned for this year to mark the 50 th anniversary of the death of writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894-1961), due to pressure from Jewish groups .
Serge Klarsfeld, president of the association of children of Jews deported from France (FFDJF), and a famous Nazi hunter, has shown this week outraged to learn of the events planned tribute in honor of Céline, author of texts
Semitic.
The list of national celebrations,
containing dozens of personalities and events, is published annually by the Ministry of Culture and made by a committee chaired by historian Jean Favier.
"This is not a backlash against Jean Favier and other committee members who made the list, eg ro if a turning point (...) I take responsibility," said Mitterrand.
"It's a relief"
, Klarsfeld said after the decision of the minister. "I congratulate Frederic Mitterrand, for having the courage to fix this blunder."
Henri Godard, g
ran Céline specialist who had written the review of the writer in the selection for 2011, admitted "objections" to honor "a man of virulent anti-Semitism." However, Godard also recalled that this is one of the most important French writers of the first half of the twentieth century.
"It's a huge French writer, the most translated and disseminated in the world after Proust.'s In the galaxy, widely read in pocket
o. Apart from that, it's a real goat," summarized.
French Minister Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand, ended a lively debate about the writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline in the 50 th anniversary of his death. The author was excluded from the national celebrations for its "anti-Semitic writings unclean."
hold or not an openly anti-Semitic writer. This was the controversy that shook the world of French letters in recent days. But the Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand, ended in ma forceful manner in deciding the controversy last Friday, not including Celine at the national celebrations of 2011.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline, author of the well-known novel "Journey to the End of the Night", one of the most celebrated books of the twentieth century French literature, should be the subject of extensive tribute to the 50 th anniversary of his death. Had therefore been included in the li sta
select list of personalities to celebrate this year throughout French territory.
But with its decision, the Minister Mitterrand made it clear that France, even today, still does not forgive this great writer who also illustrated for being an outspoken anti-Semite.
In fact, the ministerial decision was celebrated by a number of intellectuals who were radically opposed to the inclusion of Céline in all national celebrations of 2011.
In his speech, Mitterrand stressed the author's contribution to the history of literature, but "the fact that he put his pen in a disgusting ideology does not fall within the principle of national celebrations, said.
Mitterrand well aligned with those who argued that France could not pay homage to a character who wrote a series of leaflets stating that "the Jews, racially, they are monsters, hybrid creatures, misdeeds (...) gangrenous bastards should disappear. " (School of corpses, 1938).
The most active in this crusade was the lawyer Gado and historian Serge Klarsfeld, who is also president of the association of families of former Jewish deportees. Klarsfeld welcomed the decision of the minister of culture.
"I'm excited as many others who believed that Céline was indeed a great writer but also a wretch, who was publishing anti-Semitic pamphlets and lamented as most Jews did not stop at a time when the camps were overcrowded. I think it's very positive that the government has taken this decision was a complex issue after all the reactions that took place. Well, finally, abject but Céline was someone famous for his great talent. "
intervened in the controversial mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, who estimated that Céline was a "great writer" but a "perfect bastard." Others felt that including Celine at the national celebrations of this year was to honor primarily the writer. In any event, Mitterrand decision ended a dispute that threatened to convert a literary and cultural issue in political disaster.
Prohibited works
Céline wrote four political pamphlets of which three include notorious so-called anti-Semitic. In 1937, then "Bagatelles for slaughter" in which the writer unleash his cynicism and self-assurance. This pamphlet was a success with 75,000 copies sold. A year later it appears "The school of the dead" where Céline expresses a radical racism and antisemitism.
These two works were withdrawn from sale in 1939 after publication the "decree Marchandeau" which provides penalties for libel or slander against a group of people because of their origin, race or religion, or that incite hatred among the citizens. "
After the defeat and occupation of France, Céline writes a third pamphlet "Les Beaux Draps" (1941), where he denounces not only the Jews and the Masons, but the French accused of miscegenation.
During the Vichy regime was the release the two leaflets, between 1942 and 1943. "Bagatelles for slaughter" became a bestseller with "The Ruins" by Lucien Rebatet.
currently Céline's anti-Semitic pamphlets are not available in bookshops in France, except in antique shops. This is due to the refusal of the widow of Celine, who has opposed the republication of these works, while respecting the author's decision. "Bagatelles for slaughter" can be achieved easily on the Internet and should be reissued after the widow dies Céline.
The issue of holding or not, Celine became a great controversy between the cultural and political circles in France but finally the Minister of Culture that country, Frédéric Mitterrand claimed responsibility and stated that after much soul searching decided to do a tribute because of the views of the author. The mayor of Paris, on the other hand, said that while it is undeniable that Celine was an excellent writer, it is undeniable that was also "a perfect bastard."
"Censorship? None of Céline's anti-Semitic pamphlets are published today, that is, are a sort of rarity editorial. No doubt more than a publisher and publish rescue is thinking but this is not possible until he dies his widow. The only certainty, then, is that Celine will not be officially honored in France but the criticism continues to deal with it. The Magazine Litteraire dedicated his last pack in the February 2011 and Mario Vargas Llosa his column yesterday in El Pais.
For Vargas Llosa, the French government's decision sends a terrible message as it suggests that, in short, to be a good writer you must meet a certain ethic and being " a good person. " Céline was not a good person but, as stated by the most recent Nobel prize, was a writer who, emerging from hell knew how to make it an unprecedented literary work that continues to this day among the best-selling authors at mundial.El Mundo/Oveja100/El Country / LIVDUCA
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