Sometimes these WhatsApp groups are good for something. Last Tuesday, 40 French authors came together in just one hour. They all wanted to leave their publishing house, Grasset, as quickly as possible. The number of wild-goers grew quickly, after three hours there were already 100, and by the weekend Grasset had lost 170 authors, including such big names as Virginie Despendentes, Frédéric Beigbeder, Bernard-Henry Lévy and Pascal Bruckner. It is probably the largest exodus the literary scene has ever experienced worldwide.
On Sunday, over 300 writers, including other big names like Leila Slimani and Emmanuel Carrière, called for the introduction of a “conscience clause” that would make it easier for their guild to change publishers. President Macron has also gotten involved, and the Paris Book Fair, which started on Saturday, has its topic of conversation. Only the man who triggered this earthquake is surprised by a “noise” that he cannot understand.
The reason for the spontaneous revolt was a broadcast from the Hachette publishing group, Grasset’s parent company: it had dismissed the long-time managing director. On the orders of Vincent Bolloré, a Breton billionaire who has expanded his family business into one of France’s largest conglomerates, with a strong foothold in media. The 74-year-old sees himself as a “Christian Democrat without an ideological project.” But that is exactly what his many opponents accuse him of: He is trying everything through his media to help the right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN) win the presidential elections in a year’s time.
The books by the young RN leader Jordan Bardella and the right-wing politician Eric Zemmour are now being published by the traditional publishing house Fayard, which Bolloré has already turned around. They are selling well, as is ex-President Sarkozy’s literary lament about the short prison sentence he had to serve for campaign financing by the Libyan revolutionary leader Gaddafi. The case dates back to 2007, when after winning the election, Sarkozy recovered on the luxury yacht of his friend Bolloré, who had already received many state contracts. At a TV information channel taken over by Bolloré, journalists unsuccessfully went on strike for their independence: “i-Télé” became “CNews,” which is often referred to as the French version of Fox News. Many people are also concerned that the mogul’s media group now publishes three quarters of French school books.
So a culture war? This is not so clear at Grasset: the fine but very small publisher with 38 employees covers a broad ideological spectrum. Despentes is left-wing, but Henry-Lévy and Bruckner use their “nouvelle philosophies” to criticize the French left, which, in their view, has idealized multiculturalism and criminally underestimated the dangers of Islamism. It was almost a miracle that everyone was able to agree on a text for their open letter. At a meeting, some people didn’t want to sit next to each other, as “Le Figaro” reports with amusement. What unites them is their solidarity with the publishing director Olivier Nora, who had to leave after 26 years. He had ensured the open climate of opinion that the authors now see as being in danger.
Bolloré himself spoke out on Sunday. He sees behind the protest “a small caste that believes it is above everything and everyone.” Nora delivered poor numbers, so he will be replaced. Through a manager from outside the industry, which upsets writer Beigbeder: “You can’t run a publishing house like a yoghurt company. We’re not yoghurts,” he said to “Figaro”. For the top authors mentioned, the transition is easy; their contracts were linked to their collaboration with Nora. But most of them now face legal hurdles and are considering a class action lawsuit. Under French law, in order to terminate a contract, an author must prove serious interference with his work or reputation. The fact that you ideologically disagree with the selection of new releases is not enough. It is questionable whether the now widely demanded “conscience clause” (modeled on that for journalists) can cover this.
At the same time, a second affair arouses emotions. Another reason given for the separation from Nora was disagreements in dealing with a prominent newcomer: the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who had taken issue with the regime in his homeland, was pardoned and released from prison in November. His French publisher Gallimard campaigned strongly for this. Nevertheless, the 81-year-old, who is suffering from cancer and now lives in Paris with his wife, moved to Grasset in March to publish a book about his experiences in prison.
His reasoning: He did not want to be pardoned, but rather remain in prison until he was acquitted, and Gallimard had been insultingly stingy when it came to the advance payment for his new book. Not so Bolloré, who poached him for Grasset with a million euros. Nora wanted to proofread the manuscript in peace (it was “confused and therefore unpublishable,” writes “Libération”). That’s also why he had to go. And the culture war is also behind this: Some accuse the highly respected Sansal of having turned too far to the right because his criticism of Islamism has hardened into a blanket criticism of Islam. The readership can now decide: Sansal’s book will appear in June as he requested.
