Recap of the cultural Masterclass on the novel S'adapter with Clara Dupont-Monod and Manuel Carcassonne

An article by Lucie Grandjean

On the 9th of March 2022, the students of the Culture/Cultural Policy & Management policy stream of the School of Public Affairs of Sciences Po welcomed the novelist Clara Dupont-Monod and her editor Manuel Carcassonne, director of the publishing house Stock, to discuss the author's last novel S’adapter as well as the issues and challenges of the publishing world today. 

ADAPTING TO THE PROCESS OF CREATING A NOVEL

Representing difference and giving a voice to those who live on the margins of society is Clara Dupont-Monod's "great literary obsession" around which she has built her entire body of work, and S'adapter is no exception to this principle. Subtly blending fiction and autobiographical details, the author's latest novel depicts the relationship and adaptation of members of a family to the arrival of a disabled child.

Despite the complicated subject matter and the complex form of the novel, with three voices and unnamed characters, the power of the emotions that Clara Dupont-Monod shares are both universal and accessible thanks to the intimacy of the setting, touching readers deeply and allowing them to make the story their own. Indeed, for Clara Dupont-Monod - who is currently promoting her novel and jokingly claimed to be living in a train carriage and to know all its timetables -  a truly successful book enters into the personal stories of each person and completely escapes the writer: it is therefore her duty to listen and exchange with her readers.

Writing is a great joy for the novelist and a wonderful private sanctuary, but it is also a constant challenge and a risk, as the author must reveal themself and expose themself to the sometimes violent judgment of the public. 

ADAPTING TO THE WORKINGS OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

If, according to the author, "writing is a risk", publishing is also one that you must be prepared to take. Mentioning the famous quote of the publisher Jean-Claude Fasquelle "you have to know how to die on a text", Manuel Carcassonne maintained that a publisher must always assume full responsibility for their choices and thus be able to defend the texts he publishes. It is therefore essential to create a solid relationship of trust between the publisher and the author and to develop an intimate knowledge of the author's world in order to be able to support their texts and gradually build up their success. For Manuel Carcassonne, this can be difficult with some authors, but fortunately for him, Clara Dupont-Monod is "wonderful"!

However, both our speakers reminded us several times that the success of a novel is completely unpredictable and random, and it is therefore very difficult to establish in advance a commercial strategy to promote a novel. The most important thing is therefore to maintain good networks and relations with the people who can contribute to the success of the book, such as reviewers and booksellers, and to refine the strategy as the reception of the novel evolves. 

ADAPTING TO THE NEW CHALLENGES OF THE PUBLISHING WORLD

For Manuel Carcassonne, the new forms of consumption of books represent an emerging issue in the French publishing sector. Yet, for the time being, digital technology represents only a very small part of the overall turnover of publishing houses, which have intentionally slowed down its development in France in order to protect bookstores. According to Clara Dupont-Monod, literature is "a matter of the body" and the book object and all the practices associated with it cannot be replaced digitally. However, Manuel Carcassonne did not hesitate to point out the enormous growth of audiobooks in France and around the world, and sees it as a solution to the decline in book sales, provided the number and diversity of books are increased. 

Concerning the proposed merger of the Hachette and Editis groups, headed by the controversial businessman Vincent Bolloré, Manuel Carcassonne relativised but nevertheless called for vigilance on the protection of editorial diversity, which for him is essential not only for culture, but also for public debate. This requires maintaining a balance between small publishing houses and the giants of the sector, but also defending the diversity of opinions in published texts. Clara Dupont-Monod agreed with this sentiment and to defended her choice to have published Le Premier Sexe by Éric Zemmour, which at the time made it possible to vocalise men's "outrageous fears" and thus fuel the feminist debate, while still condemning its author and his positions. 

Finally, Manuel Carcassonne summed up these ideas by describing publishing as "a mirror that must reflect its time".

To conclude this article, we propose to share with the readers "The Final Word" of the Masterclass, which was proposed by Chloé Le Rille, at the end of this fascinating discussion, in the form of a very nice list of infinitives:> 

To accept the risk of a new book 

To accept that adaptations are unfaithful 

To accept the mystery of success and the mystery of failure 

To accept that we must defend the work but that it is no longer ours 

To take responsibility for the after-sales service of emotion, including for the authors we defend 

To edit without necessarily assuming the positions of those we edit 

To wait for the moment of maturity 

To wait for the manuscript to be sent 

To wait on the train

To share a complicity and trust between managers and artists

To share the jubilation around the work and around the work 

To share intimate knowledge of the author's universe and the universe of the artist you are defending. 

Learn more

• The Culture policy stream of the School of Public Affairs (french track)
• The Cultural Policy and Management policy stream of the School of Public Affairs (english track)