tom harris
August 29th, 2012, 12:16 PM
http://world.time.com/2012/08/28/french-essayist-blames-multi-culturalism-for-breiviks-norwegian-massacre/#ixzz24x4D3w1n
Europe
French Essayist Blames Multiculturalism for Breivik’s Killing Spree
New essays by French author Richard Millet, which say Anders Behring Breivik's Norwegian massacre was the result of immigration and multiculturalism, have caused an uproar in France
By Bruce Crumley | August 28, 2012 | 137
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Anders Behring Breivik
Heiko Junge / AFP / Getty Images
Anders Behring Breivik in a courtroom in Oslo on Aug. 24, 2012, the day he was sentenced to the maximum 21 years in prison
Richard Millet is an accomplished figure in French literature. His book Le Sentiment du Langue (The Feeling of Language) won the Académie Française’s 1994 essay award. His work as an editor for celebrated publisher Gallimard, meanwhile, helped produce two recent Prix Goncourt winners — including the 2006 novel Les Bienveillantes (The Kindly Ones) by American author Jonathan Littell. Now, however, Millet is getting attention of an entirely different kind with a new work attacking immigration and multiculturalism, and describing the acts of convicted Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik as “formal perfection … in their literary dimension.”
That bookish qualifier, says newsweekly L’Express in its critique of Millet’s new essay, “Éloge Littéraire d’Anders Breivik” (Literary Elegy of Anders Breivik), is a “gratuitous facade” for an otherwise “vindictive text” and thesis. Indeed, though Millet states he does not approve of Breivik’s murderous actions on July 22, 2011 that left 77 people dead, he does write the slaughter was “without doubt what Norway deserved.” The reason? Norway, Millet contends, allowed immigration, multiculturalism and the domination of foreign customs, language and religion to become such dominant influences that a self-designated defender of traditional society felt compelled to take decisive action.
(MORE: When Slogans Beget Slaughter)
“Multiculturalism, as it has been imported from the United States, is the worst thing possible for Europe … and creates a mosaic of ghettoes in which the [host] nation no longer exists,” Millet told France Info radio on Aug. 27. “Breivik, I believe, perceived that and responded to that question with the most monstrous reply.”
Little wonder that such views — published just as Breivik was being sentenced Aug. 24 — have sparked controversy in France. As word of Millet’s writing spreads, so too may the objections it has inspired.
If so, that may only serve to reinforce Millet’s accusations that most of Europe — and indeed the West — is dominated by the same attitudes that motivated Breivik’s attack. Breivik, Millet writes, is “an exemplary product of Western decadence” and a “child of the ideologico-racial fracture that extra-European immigration has introduced in Europe.” Because he sees the resulting “loss of national identity” and “Islamization of Europe” decaying “Christian roots” everywhere, Millet appears to believe acts similar to Breivik’s may be replicated outside Norway as well.
“Within this decadence, Breivik is without doubt what Norway deserved, and what awaits our societies that won’t stop blinding themselves in denial,” Millet writes in “Éloge Littéraire d’Anders Breivik,” one of three essays published under the collective title Langue Fantôme (Ghost Language) on Aug. 24 by publisher Éditions Pierre-Guillaume de Roux. “European nations are dissolving socially at the same time as they’re losing their Christian essence in favor of general relativism.”
(MORE: Why Norway Is Satisfied with Breivik’s Sentence)
After the disclaimer in which he insists he does “not approve of the acts committed by Breivik,” Millet admits being “struck by their ‘formal perfection’ and ‘literary dimension.’” But unimpressed critics contend Millet’s artistic conceit and florid prose rationalizing Breivik’s acts are little more than an apology advancing extreme-right doctrine. In its Aug. 27 review, the daily Le Monde points to his accompanying essay, “De l’Antiracisme Comme Terreur Littéraire” (Antiracism as Literary Terror) as reflecting Millet and his conservative worldview:
The man hates a lot, and [does so] in a refined style that’s sometimes obscur
Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/08/28/french-essayist-blames-multi-culturalism-for-breiviks-norwegian-massacre/#ixzz24xA7MxbI
Europe
French Essayist Blames Multiculturalism for Breivik’s Killing Spree
New essays by French author Richard Millet, which say Anders Behring Breivik's Norwegian massacre was the result of immigration and multiculturalism, have caused an uproar in France
By Bruce Crumley | August 28, 2012 | 137
inShare
Log In with Facebook
Sharing TIME stories with friends is easier than ever. Add TIME to your Timeline.
Learn More
Anders Behring Breivik
Heiko Junge / AFP / Getty Images
Anders Behring Breivik in a courtroom in Oslo on Aug. 24, 2012, the day he was sentenced to the maximum 21 years in prison
Richard Millet is an accomplished figure in French literature. His book Le Sentiment du Langue (The Feeling of Language) won the Académie Française’s 1994 essay award. His work as an editor for celebrated publisher Gallimard, meanwhile, helped produce two recent Prix Goncourt winners — including the 2006 novel Les Bienveillantes (The Kindly Ones) by American author Jonathan Littell. Now, however, Millet is getting attention of an entirely different kind with a new work attacking immigration and multiculturalism, and describing the acts of convicted Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik as “formal perfection … in their literary dimension.”
That bookish qualifier, says newsweekly L’Express in its critique of Millet’s new essay, “Éloge Littéraire d’Anders Breivik” (Literary Elegy of Anders Breivik), is a “gratuitous facade” for an otherwise “vindictive text” and thesis. Indeed, though Millet states he does not approve of Breivik’s murderous actions on July 22, 2011 that left 77 people dead, he does write the slaughter was “without doubt what Norway deserved.” The reason? Norway, Millet contends, allowed immigration, multiculturalism and the domination of foreign customs, language and religion to become such dominant influences that a self-designated defender of traditional society felt compelled to take decisive action.
(MORE: When Slogans Beget Slaughter)
“Multiculturalism, as it has been imported from the United States, is the worst thing possible for Europe … and creates a mosaic of ghettoes in which the [host] nation no longer exists,” Millet told France Info radio on Aug. 27. “Breivik, I believe, perceived that and responded to that question with the most monstrous reply.”
Little wonder that such views — published just as Breivik was being sentenced Aug. 24 — have sparked controversy in France. As word of Millet’s writing spreads, so too may the objections it has inspired.
If so, that may only serve to reinforce Millet’s accusations that most of Europe — and indeed the West — is dominated by the same attitudes that motivated Breivik’s attack. Breivik, Millet writes, is “an exemplary product of Western decadence” and a “child of the ideologico-racial fracture that extra-European immigration has introduced in Europe.” Because he sees the resulting “loss of national identity” and “Islamization of Europe” decaying “Christian roots” everywhere, Millet appears to believe acts similar to Breivik’s may be replicated outside Norway as well.
“Within this decadence, Breivik is without doubt what Norway deserved, and what awaits our societies that won’t stop blinding themselves in denial,” Millet writes in “Éloge Littéraire d’Anders Breivik,” one of three essays published under the collective title Langue Fantôme (Ghost Language) on Aug. 24 by publisher Éditions Pierre-Guillaume de Roux. “European nations are dissolving socially at the same time as they’re losing their Christian essence in favor of general relativism.”
(MORE: Why Norway Is Satisfied with Breivik’s Sentence)
After the disclaimer in which he insists he does “not approve of the acts committed by Breivik,” Millet admits being “struck by their ‘formal perfection’ and ‘literary dimension.’” But unimpressed critics contend Millet’s artistic conceit and florid prose rationalizing Breivik’s acts are little more than an apology advancing extreme-right doctrine. In its Aug. 27 review, the daily Le Monde points to his accompanying essay, “De l’Antiracisme Comme Terreur Littéraire” (Antiracism as Literary Terror) as reflecting Millet and his conservative worldview:
The man hates a lot, and [does so] in a refined style that’s sometimes obscur
Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/08/28/french-essayist-blames-multi-culturalism-for-breiviks-norwegian-massacre/#ixzz24xA7MxbI