Vanessa Springora said on Wednesday "very happy with the awareness" caused by the publication of her accusing book on her relationship under the influence of the writer Gabriel Matzneff, now under investigation for rape of a minor.
“I am very happy with the general awareness that has taken place. It's wonderful that we can still question ourselves, for all those who have had the courage to do so, being aware of their mistakes is very important, "said the director of Editions Julliard, guest of the program La Grande Librairie on France 5. "This is how we show that we are human and that we can still live together", she added, at the end of a long interview.
In Le Consentement , published by Grasset on January 2, Vanessa Springora recounts how she was seduced by Gabriel Matzneff at the age of 13 in the 1980s and the injuries that this relationship left in her life. His testimony brought the pedophile practices of the 83-year-old writer into the spotlight and fueled the debate on the dysfunctions of institutions and the complacency of certain circles at the time for these behaviors.
"Three or four years ago, it would not have had the same impact"
The former host Bernard Pivot, who invited Gabriel Matzneff in his literary broadcasts, notably questioning him in a playful tone about his attraction for "high school girls and girls" in 1990, regretted not having had at the time "The right words". Frédéric Beigbeder, member of the jury for the Renaudot Prize, acknowledged that the award of this prize to the writer in 2013 in the essay category had been "clumsy". The publishers Gallimard, La Table Ronde and Léo Scheer have announced in recent days that they will no longer sell the writer's newspapers.
Vanessa Springora did not file a complaint for these now prescribed facts. But the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation for rape of minors under the age of 15, the day after the publication of "Consent". "I would have published this book three or four years ago, it certainly would not have had the same impact," said Vanessa Springora, citing as "proof" the fact that the Renaudot essay attributed to Gabriel Matzneff did "Moved absolutely nobody barely six years ago".
The writer attributes this “different listening” to the #MeToo movement, which “brought about a real revolution”. "We went 180 degrees to another world." The “shock wave” provoked by her story “reconciles it with the book”, she said, because it shows that “literature is still capable of moving society”. Vanessa Springora had canceled at the last minute her participation in "La Grande Librairie" last Wednesday due to the death of her father.
- Sexual assault
- Literature
- metoo
- Books
- Gabriel Matzneff
- Society