Jean-Pierre Martin's 'Éloge de l'apostat' Published by Seuil

Jean-Pierre Martin's book 'Éloge de l'apostat' (Éditions du Seuil, coll. 'Fiction & Cie') defends apostasy against the prevailing virtue of fidelity. Martin argues that fidelity to oneself is a cliché, advocating instead for a 'labilité' (fluidity) that rejects the idea of identity as permanent. The book draws on literature and personal experience, moving from the collective 'we' of a generation that came of age around 1968 in France to a singular 'I' that no longer merges into any 'we'. Martin describes this as a 'vita nova' giving apostasy an existential horizon, a 'transformation of self' rather than a 'upheaval'. He notes that language lacks positive terms for apostasy, as French has 'clearly taken sides' in favor of fidelity. The book offers a typology of 'vita nova' with heroes like Rousseau, Barthes, and Jouve, contrasting them with 'masters of the immobile' like Debord and Breton. 'Transfuges' include Nizan, Duras, and Sartre. Martin also discusses subgroups like the 'frivolous' (Vailland, Gide, Sollers). Ultimately, he returns to his 'library' as a 'wounded reader', tracing a 'broken line' where a fragile, unostentatious fidelity may be found.