LIAGAN · Literature against anti-Semitism (1940-1944). French and Soviet emigré writers in France against the persecution of the Jews

Literature against anti-Semitism (1940-1944). French and Soviet emigré writers in France against the persecution of the Jews

The Project LIAGAN’s aim was to investigate the view writers had of the persecution of the Jews in Occupied France. It aimed at approaching the texts of the writers who reacted to the injustices suffered by the Jews becoming exiles and being hunted down as Others, before being simply eliminated. In this context, it intended to study the works of fiction in which the question of the persecution of the Jews was at stake. The project was defined by two axes: (1) the French writers who raised their voices against the persecutions of which the Jews were victims in France during the Occupation, (2) emigré writers from Central and Oriental Europe (Russian, Russian-language, Georgian) who lived in France during this period and who also stood up against these injustices. The cooperation with the researchers of the host unit Eur’ORBEM, specialized in the study of multiculturalism, exile and emigration, violence and persecutions in the 20th century, led to a fruitful work results. Mutual inclusion in scientific manifestations resulted in common publications, presentations. It allowed more targeted approach of the abovementioned question. As for the conclusions that the Project realization permitted to make, can be formulated in these terms: (1) meticulous analyse allowed to determine that number of French authors expressed their indignation through fictional texts and press articles towards the anti-Semitic ideology of the Nazism, as well as towards the wave of anti-Semitic violence in the France of 1930s. The formulas as “extermination War” and “elimination” of the Jews by the Nazi Germany “throughout all the nations of the world” is defined as the possible schema of the Nazi ideological project in the years before the realization of the Holocaust. The study permitted to reveal the semantic/historic/sociological aspects of the Jew’s persecution denunciation context in literary texts. (2) As concerns the exile writing in France of 1930’s, it became evident, through the study, that the socio-cultural and historical context of Georgian case differs from that of Russian and Russian-language émigré authors. The event of exile appears for Georgian writers, confined in their own national context – continuing writing in Georgian and being centered on the fate of Georgia Sovietized by force – as a tragic moment that permits to criticize the repressive machine of Soviet Stalinist regime. Auto-identification with the figure of the “clochard”, pariah, Jew emerges throughout the exilic writing of Georgian authors. The figure of the homeless is an evocation of the one who is excluded from the society, becomes the enemy of Soviet state, like the Jew who incarnates the stranger by excellence during Nazism and in Vichy France. Still, except some unique cases, marginalized Georgian émigré literature stays distant from European socio-political problematics and focuses especially on the violent critic of Soviet repressive regime.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union