A French historian and author is facing a high-profile defamation lawsuit brought by her own family, casting a stark light on the legal and ethical tightrope walked by writers of autobiographical fiction. Cécile Desprairies was taken to court on Wednesday by her brother and a cousin over her 2024 novel, La Propagandiste.
The Heart of the Legal Complaint
The plaintiffs allege that Desprairies’ book, which was longlisted for the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 2023, constitutes a malicious act of "family vengeance". Their legal complaint states that "the author’s resentment toward the targeted individuals permeates the entire work". The central plot involves a woman's collaboration with the Nazis during the Vichy occupation, a claim the family says lacks evidence.
They are seeking to have the novel withdrawn from sale and pulped. The case pivots on the depiction of Desprairies' late mother and her great-uncle. The author, however, has publicly drawn inspiration from her childhood, telling French television in 2023 that "most of the protagonists I was able to draw inspiration from were dead, so there’s a liberation of speech".
Autofiction: A Genre Under Legal Scrutiny
La Propagandiste falls squarely into the genre known as autofiction, a term coined by French critic Serge Doubrovsky in 1977. This hybrid form, blending autobiography with experimental fiction, has seen massive commercial success through works like Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels and Karl Ove Knausgård's My Struggle series.
Yet, its focus on painful personal and familial history often leads to conflict. "The trouble is that it’s very difficult to write about your own experience without touching on the experience of others," notes Larissa Muraveva, a researcher at Grenoble Alpes University. Knausgård himself was threatened with legal action by his uncle, while Norwegian author Vigdis Hjorth faced a libel threat from her own mother over a stage adaptation.
Melissa Schuh, a lecturer at Germany's Kiel University, points out a critical tension in the genre: "The suspicion... is that it allows you to have it both ways." It offers the creative freedom of fiction while borrowing an air of authenticity from autobiography, potentially offering some legal insulation.
A French Legal Landscape Less Forgiving
In France, however, the novelisation of real life has proven a less robust shield. The relatives of Desprairies are suing not for invasion of privacy but for "public defamation of the memory of the dead". This case follows other French legal precedents. In 2013, celebrated autofiction writer Christine Angot and her publisher were ordered to pay €40,000 in damages for invading a person's privacy in her novel Les Petits.
Natalie Edwards, Professor of French at the University of Bristol, observes a unique clash in France: "a very vague law around privacy has met a very vague writing style." This contrasts with the United States, which has seen a similar memoir boom but fewer legal disputes.
Media law expert Mark Stephens, an English solicitor, suggests the family's case faces significant hurdles. He explains that French defamation law, defined by the 1881 law on press freedom, primarily protects the living. "Descendants cannot sue for a blot on a family’s honour unless they can convince a court that their own reputation has been denigrated," he stated.
Desprairies' lawyer has argued that connecting the novel's characters to the living plaintiffs would require "an extreme knowledge of genealogy or a power of divination". Stephens concludes, "French courts will be slow to muzzle a novelist exposing uncomfortable truths. Family pride makes poor law, and even worse literature." A verdict is expected on 17 March.
