A French historian and author, Cécile Desprairies, is facing a defamation lawsuit filed by her brother and a cousin. The lawsuit targets her 2024 novel, "La Propagandiste," alleging a defamatory depiction of their late mother and great-uncle. The plaintiffs claim the book is an act of "family vengeance" and lacks evidence for its central plot point involving a woman's collaboration with Nazis. They are seeking the withdrawal and pulping of the book.
Novel Details
Desprairies' novel, which was longlisted for the Prix Goncourt in 2023, features a narrator named Coline who recounts the story of her morphine-addicted mother, Lucie. Lucie was reportedly betrothed to a "convinced pro-Nazi" designer of propaganda posters during the Vichy occupation. Although Desprairies denies the book is a roman à clef, she has publicly stated that her own childhood inspired it and that most of the inspiring protagonists were deceased.
Autofiction Context
The novel is categorized within the autofiction genre, a blend of autobiography and experimental fiction coined by Serge Doubrovsky in 1977. This genre, which often explores traumatic experiences, has gained popularity through works like Elena Ferrante's "My Brilliant Friend" and Karl Ove Knausgård's "My Struggle." The challenge with autofiction is that writing about personal experiences often involves the experiences of others.
Legal Precedents and Differences
Previous autofiction authors, like Knausgård and Vigdis Hjorth in Norway, faced defamation threats, but these typically did not result in court action. In Norway, families have sometimes responded with "counter-novels." In France, however, authors have faced successful legal action, such as Christine Angot, who was ordered to pay damages for invasion of privacy in 2013.
Desprairies' Case and Legal Analysis
Desprairies' relatives are suing for "public defamation of the memory of the dead," which differs from privacy invasion. Mark Stephens, a media law solicitor, noted that French defamation law (Law of 29 July 1881) primarily protects the privacy rights of living individuals. Descendants can only sue for family honor if they can prove their own reputation has been damaged. Desprairies' lawyer argues that linking the book's story to living relatives would require "extreme knowledge of genealogy or a power of divination."
Stephens believes the plaintiffs' claim is weak, stating that French courts are generally reluctant to restrict novelists from exposing uncomfortable truths. A verdict in the case is anticipated on March 17.