Thus the signatories ofa petition published by the daily Release of this January 18, 2024, and bringing together a collective of “more than 1,200 poets, editors, booksellers, actresses and actors of the French cultural scene”, as their hat specifies, do they have the sad ambition of ” refuse the nomination of Sylvain Tesson”, on the alleged grounds that he would be “a reactionary icon”, it is still specified textually, as “godfather of the Spring of Poets 2024”.
Yes, it is indeed this journal that a philosopher of the caliber of Jean-Paul Sartre once founded, in 1973, alongside a few other intellectuals also attached to the imprescriptible freedom of expression, who is not afraid of take direct action, these days, at one of the most gifted French writers of his generation, if not of modern and contemporary literature as a whole: Sylvain Tesson, distinguished author, among many other chefs- of poetic-literary works, of The Snow Panthera major story, published not so long ago, in 2019, by the prestigious Gallimard editions, in the no less renowned “Blanche” collection, and which, among other distinctions and honorary titles, was the very meritorious winner, the same year, of the Renaudot prize!
The perverse effects of wokism
Could this therefore be, this unjustifiable cabal against one of our best writers as well as one of our most beautiful minds today, the deplorable but dangerous perverse effect, in view of what appears there as a new type of inquisition, of this insidious doctrinaire poison, sectarian and retrograde, if not reactionary even beyond its laudable initial emancipatory intentions, of what is commonly called “wokism”?
It also seems, to read the unfair and defamatory content as well as the excess, if not the violence, of the tone of the said petition from Release – the fact that some of Sylvain Tesson’s political positions are supposed to be close to the theses of the extreme right – that these signatories, most of whom are illustrious unknowns within the French literary panorama, are not moved, even beyond their indignity, than through jealousy and envy: which, we will easily agree, turns out to be a particularly mediocre motive, as much on an ethical, intellectual or professional level!
It is, on the other hand, at least paradoxical, if not frankly contradictory, that those very people – poets, writers, publishers and artists – who are supposed to defend human rights, the progress of ideas, the freedom of creation and the nobility of tolerance, even the greatness of a civilization, can thus sink, in such an inconsiderate, not to say pitiful, manner into the pernicious failings of intellectual terrorism as much as moral dictatorship, these two dangerous ideological vectors totalitarianism!
Master censors arbitrarily establishing themselves as master thinkers
Further: have they not retained or understood, these master censors arrogate to themselves the authoritarian right to arbitrarily establish themselves as master thinkers, these new “Fouquier-Tinville of literary café” to paraphrase here the famous formula of the very lucid Raymond Aron in his learned Memoirsthe compelling lesson, paragon of all correctly conceived humanism, from the great Voltaire, immortal author of the admirable Treatise on Tolerancewhen he uttered, already in the brilliant Age of Enlightenment, these words (at least his legendary philosophical-literary posterity has attributed them to him) that every authentic democrat should make his own, in fact: “I am not I don’t agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for you to have the right to say it!”
Voltaire’s Enlightenment: tolerance, humanism and democracy
Also, are we strong, precisely, in this very wise thought, whose height of vision is matched only by the generosity of soul, without which there is no intelligence of any value, that we, the signatories of this appeal, also intend to defend, in the sole but inalienable name of freedom of speech and thought, the dear and talented Sylvain Tesson.
Freedom, this essential universal principle (because this is what we support and protect here, like Julien Benda once in his salutary Betrayal of the clericsin the first place), is therefore returned to him, effectively, so that he can thus honorably sponsor, in view of this rank which is legitimately due to him, the beautiful, warm and distinguished “Spring of Poets” in this year 2024.
SIGNATORIES *:
Daniel Salvatore Schiffer: philosopher, writer, director of collective works Thinking Salman Rushdie, Rethinking the role of the intellectual And Humans at the center of the world – For a humanism of present and future times.
Luc-Olivier d’Algange: writer, essayist.
Marc Alpozzo: philosopher, essayist.
Jeannette Bougrab: essayist, doctor of law, former Secretary of State for Youth and Community Life.
Pascal Bruckner: philosopher.
Sophie Chauveau: writer.
Nadine Dewit: painter.
Emmanuel Dupuy: president of the Institute Foresight and Security in Europe.
Lou Ferreira: philosopher, playwright, creator of theatrical literary salons.
Luc Ferry: philosopher, former Minister of Youth, National Education and Research.
Renée Fregosi: philosopher, political scientist.
Christian Godin: philosopher.
François Kasbi: writer, literary critic.
Rachel Khan: writer, essayist, journalist.
Arno Klarsfeld: lawyer.
Bernard Kouchner: founder of Médecins sans frontières and Médecins du monde, former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Michel Maffesoli: University Institute of France, professor emeritus at the Sorbonne.
Bruno Moysan: musicologist.
Yves Namur: poet, permanent secretary of the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium.
Eric Naulleau: writer.
Françoise Nore: linguist.
Robert Redeker: philosopher.
Pierre-Yves Rougeyron: essayist, founder of the Cercle Aristote and director of the magazine Free perspectives.
Stéphane Rozès: political scientist, essayist.
Romaric Sangars: writer.
Boualem Sansal: writer.
Dominique Schnapper: sociologist, director of studies at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences, honorary member of the Constitutional Council.
Jacques Sojcher: philosopher.
Annie Sugier: essayist, president of the League for International Women’s Law.
Pierre-André Taguieff: philosopher, political scientist, research director at the CNRS.
Jean-Claude Zylberstein: lawyer, publisher, writer.