artpress Editor Defends Céline Against New Anti-Semitism Accusations

In an editorial for artpress issue 443, Jacques Henric critiques a new book by Pierre-André Taguieff and Annick Duraffour titled 'Céline, la race, le juif' (Fayard), which accuses writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline of anti-Semitism and racism. Henric argues that Céline's anti-Semitism was already evident in his early 1930s text 'L'Église', predating Nazi propaganda, and dismisses the claim that admirers created a 'cursed writer' legend. He notes that figures like Henri Godard, François Gibault, Frédéric Vitoux, Philippe Sollers, Julia Kristeva, and Philippe Muray never used that term. Henric contends that literary history has already judged Céline as a major 20th-century writer, with his works in the Pléiade and paperback editions. The editorial was published on April 11, 2017.