the Book France of the week takes us into the world of conspiracy and the far right. They are everywhere, is the title of this educational and ultra-documented comic strip. One of the authors, Valérie Igounet, talks with Frédérique Genot.
RFI: Valérie Igounet hello, you are a historian, a specialist in the far right and Holocaust denial in France. You are part of the team of scriptwriters (four in total) who co-sign They are everywhere, published at the Arènes BD. It is a dive in images into the world of conspiracy.
Valerie Igounet : Yes, in image and in writing, completely. We wanted to approach this theme by relying on multiple facets, under all kinds of conspiracy, but also to show the dangerousness of these theses which are more and more current.
It starts with a fairly standard story. The disappearance of a brother, whom his sister, a journalist, is going to find, with the help of a former great journalist specializing in the far right. At the very beginning, when Rose sees the videos of so-called doctors explaining that you can fight cancer with carrot juice or that drinking your urine brings a lot of energy, she is puzzled, but not yet worried.
We feel her perplexed and we also feel that she is in fact discovering something which for her is new and above all so grotesque that this perplexity will gradually turn into anxiety. Not only does she feel that her brother could be dragged into this abyss, but also that these are theses that could concern multiple people.
There is a story in which fictional characters and characters whose names are changed, but who we recognize, intersect. Welcome to the great celebration of the badge is Dieudonné.
It’s true that we said to ourselves: why give them their name? Fake surnames were chosen. There are often winks in relation to what they can be or what they can represent. And since they target us as supposedly as we are their enemies and they name us, we thought it was a pirouette that could bring lightness to the reading of this comic.
Lightness, there is, at the same time as gravity. A participant in this party specifies that he is not anti-Semitic, but that he is anti-system. There it sounds…
Yes, it resonates and these are in fact words that for the most part were taken from authentic dialogues. It’s a comic strip, it’s a fiction, but it’s not really a fiction since besides this story of the journalist, these characters, when we see them, when we hear them (even if we read them), the statements are true.
The conspiracies that are cited: 9/11 did not take place, the Americans did not go to the Moon, other more serious ones such as Holocaust denial, the gas chambers did not exist, you list them at the end…
We decided to do that too because we thought that if this comic could be read by people who don’t really know conspiracy, who are interested in it or feel (why not either) attracted by these theses… Why not offer a sort of glossary listing all these theses – not the most important ones – but which can have a crucial impact today and can be educational? This comic strip we also wanted it to concern this generation of social networks which is most permeable to conspiracy today.
During her investigation, the journalist has the impression of meeting people whom she says are “a little lost”. When in fact, his interlocutor reminds him that someone who is clueless is more about manipulation, fake news and social networks, this can lead to Samuel Paty (the professor murdered in October 2020, editor’s note).
We also wanted to discern the ideologues who drag them into their conspiratorial delirium and those people who also become conspiratorial for various reasons. And in some interviews, we heard people say that it was a T-moment in their life, even a certain perdition, even if the word is a bit strong. You have to be careful.
Admittedly, there are some who are lost, but we also know that in the vast majority, the conspiratorial profiles are on the far right. We still see yesterday, this press which reports on murders, etc. You see, we can be lost, we can be lost, we can believe in stupidity, but we must not be extremely conciliatory with these people who can sink into a delirium.
It’s very pleasant to read. There is a suspense, a story and at the same time, it is treated in an extremely rigorous way. How did the idea for this book come about?
I am the author of academic books with footnotes etc. They are important to me. But why not broaden the readership? And broadening it means popularizing themes in the noble sense of the term. That is to say that they concern the readers and that it is affordable for a panel of readers. This is the first thing. It was obviously also the publisher, Laurent Muller, who was on board. And with the Arenas, we thought it could be a great idea to make a comic strip. There is no such thing. And we went dark.
In any case, it happens right in the news. We learned this week that 7 people had been arrested in a terrorist case in which 14 people have already been implicated… including Rémy Daillet, a figure in conspiracy circles.
Rémy Daillet was arrested some time ago. He is incarcerated. It is linked to this case of the kidnapping of little Mia. He was again indicted last fall for a possible terrorist network linked to a far-right group. And it is true that these people arrested show this centrality of Rémy Daillet and also this word that must be pronounced and which is also in They are everywherethat is to say: terrorism.
We must not forget that some people who have resorted to conspiracy theses have succeeded in murdering other people. I think of several attacks.