Lorraine writer Jean-Philippe Jaworski is taking a stand against the rise to power of the extreme right by publishing a dark philosophical tale “Les fauteurs d’ordre” (The Troublemakers of Order) published by Denoël. The story, written in record time, is already available in bookstores.
We know Jean-Philippe Jaworski for his Fantasy novels (literature of the imagination). The Nancy native has already won an award for “Winning the War” at the Les Imaginales d’Épinal festival in 2009. He is also a literature teacher in a high school in Nancy.
In this troubled period that we are all experiencing since the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly by the Head of State on June 9, the novelist has decided to make a singular and literary voice heard. Some publish and sign columns to denounce the risks of the arrival in power of the extreme right, Jean-Philippe Jaworski for his part took up his pen to write in just a few days: “The makers of order”, printed and published immediately.
Through this dark tale, I wanted to demystify the normalization of the far-right party and put some of its fundamentals into context.
Jean-Philippe Jaworski, writer
“Pascal Godbillon, director of the Lunes d’encre collection at Editions Denoël, was looking for a way to demonstrate our opposition to far-right ideas, with the means that are ours, he as publisher and me as author . He therefore presented me with the idea of writing a committed fantasy short story in eight days, to then have time to print and distribute it before the second round of legislative elections. Through this dark tale, I wanted to demystify the normalization of the far-right party and put into context some of its fundamentals: xenophobia underlying national preference, police state, control of opinion and the media , end of the rule of law“, explains the author.
“The Troublemakers” is a philosophical tale set in the 16th century that denounces far-right thinking.
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© Editions Denoël
The plot takes place in a France that evokes the Renaissance period. From the start, the reader is immersed in a universe steeped in intrigue, manipulation and new laws that govern public life, such as that on blood law.
This is how Praetor, the main character of this philosophical tale, speaks to the alderman (municipal magistrate):
“We will investigate to identify among your parents those who are of pure stock. If your whole family is mixed, these assets will return to the crown”
It is impossible not to see a parallel with the abolition of the right of the soil included in the National Rally’s programme for these legislative elections, but why choose to set the story in the past?
“”Les Fauteurs d’ordre” was intended for a collection of the imaginary. As fictions committed to opposing far-right ideology have already been published in dystopian science fiction, Pascal Godbillon preferred the setting to be more fantasy. This is why I opted for the kingdom of Cordueil, which is reminiscent of Renaissance France. One of the reasons I chose this context is that the Renaissance was the paradoxical crucible of the notion of tolerance, in the midst of terrible civil wars caused by religious radicalization. An essay published in 2021 by Jérémie Foa, “Tous ceux qui tombe”, the result of a historical study of the victims and ordinary executioners of the Saint-Barthélemy massacres, highlights processes of escalation in civil violence that can be observed at different times, including on the eve of the great pogroms of the 19th and 20th centuries. I had this correspondence to the spirit in designing “The Fauteurs d’ordre”; for example, the names of the sergeant torturers in the tale, Croizier, Leclou and Poculot, are directly borrowed from the militiamen and mass murderers in Paris in 1572.
The arrival of the extreme right to power would lead to a questioning of human rights, a dishonor for our country
The story describes a very dark world, where denunciation is the rule, where knowledge has disappeared to give way to the suffering of the tortured:
“The classrooms had become chambers of justice; the offices had been assigned to the magistrates; the library, emptied of its dusty volumes, now contained the registry. The cellars served as prisons and interrogation rooms.”
Like his short story, the author fears many excesses with the arrival of the far right in charge:
“I fear the implementation of discriminatory policies; a security policy that is drifting towards a police state; an attempt to take control of the judicial system, as was undertaken in Poland; a bringing into line with the opposition media, which has in fact already begun in the Bolloré group when we see the way in which press organs like i Télé or Le JDD have been purged and used in the service of the extreme right; the vassalization of France to the Kremlin. All this would lead to a questioning of human rights, a dishonor for our country which would be punished by an accelerated decline on the international scene and, probably, the worsening of our economic difficulties.“.
A popular author among Fantasy fans, Jean-Philippe Jaworski hopes to reach his very diverse readership:
“I’m not sure this tale will convince far-right voters; On the contrary, I fear that it will reinforce their choice by serving as a foil. On the other hand, I hope that this text will give food for thought among those who are not radicalized; that it could help to bring undecided and abstainers back to the polling stations, or to encourage those who do not find themselves in the candidates’ offer to vote despite everything for the Republican front in order to block the extreme right . If Les Auteurs d’ordre reaches a wider audience and plays a role, however modest, in the Republican resistance effort, so much the better.“.
“The makers of order” is available in bookstores at the price of 5 euros.
