Over 1500 French Writers and Publishers Sign Petition Against Far-Right

More than 1500 French writers, publishers, booksellers, and university professors have signed a petition urging the people of France not to vote for the far-right party in the upcoming parliamentary elections. According to polls, the far-right party in France is expected to receive the most votes in this election and may gain power for the first time since the end of World War II. As the two-round parliamentary elections approach, the literary and book world in France is mobilizing to influence public opinion and prevent the far-right party from winning. While the far-right party lacks a specific cultural program, booksellers, writers, and publishers have called on French voters to rally decisively against the far-right and to 'raise their voices' by not voting for this party. Jean-Baptiste Andrea, the latest winner of the Goncourt Prize, France's most prestigious literary award, is among the signatories of this petition. Andrea previously addressed the rise of fascism in Italy in his critically acclaimed novel. Former French Culture Minister Françoise Nyssen, who manages Éditions Actes Sud, is also a signatory. The signatories stated: 'We want to continue presenting our works in complete freedom, across all fields, with diverse thoughts and expressions.' In recent years, alongside the rise of the far-right party in politics, some literary critics have also spoken about the growth of far-right ideas in literature. Last year, a book titled 'Literary Far-Right in France' was published, addressing the positions and literary worlds of several authors, including controversial French writer Michel Houellebecq. François Croguet, the French journalist and author of this book, told French media: 'I intended to emphasize the advance of the far-right in the cultural sphere.' He added: 'Now we see that the far-right, the National Rally party, has made advances in the electoral arena. However, the far-right also has an intellectual world that is less known and less covered by major media, and the writers I addressed in this book are sometimes closely and sometimes distantly associated with the far-right.' Most of the writers labeled as far-right emerged in Parisian circles with controversial statements or books after the 1990s. At that time, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the far-right party, managed to reach the second round in the presidential elections for the first time. The works of these writers, especially Michel Houellebecq, which some even claim are 'Islamophobic,' have sold well in the French and even European book markets. Meanwhile, their critics have described some of these works as generally 'offensive' or 'discriminatory.' An artificial intelligence software also holds a similar opinion on this matter. Recently, Antoine Gallimard, the director of the prestigious Gallimard publishing house in France, announced that he had asked an AI software to write a scene in the style of Michel Houellebecq, but the software responded: 'I'm sorry, as a language model, I cannot write a scene that would be considered offensive or discriminatory.' A few years ago, Michel Houellebecq sparked considerable controversy with his novel 'Submission,' which drew comments from several literary critics and political figures. Several critics and media personalities described the book as 'racist,' but most notably, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party, commented that Houellebecq's book tells a story that 'might one day become a reality.' In 2001, Michel Houellebecq described Islam as 'the most foolish religion' in the world. This is while France has the largest Muslim population among European countries, most of whom are immigrants from North African countries. Following the rise in votes for the far-right party in the European Parliament elections, Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, announced on the evening of June 10 that he had decided to dissolve the French Parliament. With the signing of the decree for early parliamentary elections by Macron, the first round of these elections will be held on June 30 and the second round on July 7.