Louis Ferdinand Cline An Anarcho-Nationalist

Tom Sunic from http://www.theoccidentalo ser!er.net/authors/Sunic-Celine.html "n his ima#inar$ self-portra$al% the French no!elist Louis-Ferdinand Cline &'()*+'),'- would e the first one to re.ect the assi#ned la el of anarcho-nationalism. For that matter he would re.ect an$ outsider/s la el whatsoe!er re#ardin# his prose and his personalit$. 0e was an anticommunist% ut also an anti-li eral. 0e was an anti-Semite ut also an anti-Christian. 0e despised the Left and the 1i#ht. 0e re.ected all do#mas and all eliefs% and worse% he su mitted all academic standards and !alue s$stems to rutal derision. 2riefl$% Cline defies an$ scholarl$ or ci!ic cate#ori3ation. As a class$ trademar4 of the French literar$ life% he is still considered the finest French author of modernit$ despite the fact that his literar$ opus re.ects an$ academic classification. 5!en thou#h his no!els are part and parcel of the o li#ator$ literature in the French hi#h school s$lla us and e!en thou#h he has een the su .ect of do3ens of doctoral dissertations% let alone thousands of polemics denouncin# him as the most !irulent 6ew- aitin# pamphleteer of the 78th centur$% he continues to e an oddit$ eludin# an$ anal$sis% $et commandin# respect across the political and academic spectrum. Can one offer a su##estion that those who will est #rasp L.F. Cline must also e his loo4ali4es the replicas of his nihilist character% his 9allic temperament and his unsurpassa le command of the lan#ua#e: Cadaverous Schools for Communist and Liberal Massacres The trou le with L.F. Cline is that althou#h he is widel$ acclaimed $ literar$ critics as the most uni;ue French author of the 78th centur$ and despite the fact that a #ood do3en of his no!els are readil$ a!aila le in an$ oo4 store in France% his two anti-Semitic pamphlets are officiall$ off limits there. Firstl$% the word pamphlet is false. 0is two oo4s% 2a#atelles pour un massacre &')<=- and 5cole des cada!res &')<(-% althou#h le#all$ and academicall$ re u4ed as >fascist anti-Semitic pamphlets%? are more in line with the social satire of the '@th centur$ French 1a elaisian tradition% full of fun and lo!e ma4in# than modern political polemics a out the 6ewr$. After so man$ $ears of hi ernation% the satire 2a#atelles finall$ appeared in an anon$mous American translation under the title of Trifles for a massacre% and can e accessed online. The anon$mous translator must e commended for his awesome 4nowled#e of French lin#uistic nuances and his s4ill in transposin# French ar#ot into American slan#. Anli4e the 9erman or the 5n#lish lan#ua#e% the French lan#ua#e is a hi#hl$ conteBtual idiom% for iddin# an$ compound nouns or neolo#isms. Cnl$ Cline had a license to craft new words in French. French is a lan#ua#e of hi#h precision% ut also of #reat am i#uities. Doreo!er% an$ renderin# of the difficult Cline/s slan#ish satire into 5n#lish re;uires from a translator not .ust the perfect 4nowled#e of French% ut also the perfect 4nowled#e of Cline/s world. Certainl$% 0.L. Denc4en/s temperament and his sentence structure sometimes carr$ a whiff of Cline. 53ra Eound/s to$in# with 5n#lish words in his radio roadcasts in fascist "tal$ also remind a it of

Cline/s st$le. The rh$thm of 0arold Co!in#ton/s narrati!e and the !iolence of his epithets ma$ remind one a wee of Celine/s prose too. 2ut in no wa$ can one draw a parallel etween Cline and other authors e it in st$le or in su stance. Cline is oth politicall$ and artisticall$ uni;ue. 0is lan#ua#e and his meta-lan#ue are unparalleled in modern literature. To e sure Cline is !er$ ad news for Euritan ears or for a do-#ood conser!ati!e who will e instantl$ repelled $ Cline/s !oca ular$ teemin# as it does with the o!er4ill of metaphorical >6ewish dic4s and pric4s.? Trifles is not .ust a satire. "t is the most important social treatise for the understandin# of the prewar 5urope and the comin# endtimes of postmodernit$. "t is not .ust a passion pla$ of a man who #i!es free rei#n to his emotional out ursts a#ainst the m$ths of his time% ut also a !isionar$ premonition of comin# social and cultural uphea!als in the unfoldin# 7'st centur$. "t is an una!oida le literature for an$ Fhite in search of his herita#e. These weren/t 0$mie .ewelers% these were !icious lowlifes% the$ ate rats to#etherG The$ were as flat as flounders. The$ had .ust left their #hettos% from the depths of 5stonia% Croatia% Fallachia% 1umelia% and the sties of 2essara iaG The 6ews% the$ now fre;uent the #uardhouse% the$ are no lon#er outsideG Fhen it comes to croo4edness% it is the$ who ta4e first placeG All of this ta4es place under the h$drantH with hoses as thic4 as dic4sH eside the $ellow waters of the doc4sG enou#h to sin4 all the ships in the worldGin a dcor fit for phantomsGwith a 4iss that/ll cut $our ass clean openGthat/ll turn $ou inside out. The satire opens up with ima#inar$ dialo#ue with the fictional 6ew 9utman re#ardin# the role of artistr$ $ the 6ews in the French Third 1epu lic% followed $ rief chapters descri in# Cline/s !o$a#e to the So!iet Anion. 2etween noon and midni#ht% " was accompanied e!er$where $ an interpreter &connected with the police-. " paid for the whole dealG 0er name was Natalie% and she was $ the wa$ !er$ well mannered% and $ m$ faith a !er$ prett$ londe% a completel$ !i rant de!otee of Communism% prosel$ti3in# $ou to death% should that e necessar$G Completel$ serious moreo!erGtr$ not to thin4 of thin#sH Gand of ein# spied uponH nom de IieuHG GThe miser$ that " saw in 1ussia is scarcel$ to e ima#ined% Asiatic% Iostoe!s4iian% a 9ehenna of mildew% pic4led herrin#% cucum ers% and informantsG The 6udai3ed 1ussian is a natural- orn .ailer% a Chinaman who has missed his callin#% a torturer% the perfect master of lac4e$s. The re.ects of Asia% the re.ects of AfricaG The$ were .ust made to marr$ one anotherG "t/s the most eBcellent couplin# to e sent out to us from the 0ells. Fhen the satire was first pu lished in ')<=% rare were 5uropean intellectuals who had not alread$ fallen under the spell of communist lulla ies. Cline% as an endless heretic and a #ood o ser!er refused to e ta4en for a ride $ communist commissars. 0e is a master of discourse in depictin# communist

phenot$pes% and in his capacit$ of a medical doctor he del!es constantl$ into 6ewish self-perception of their ph$si;ue... and their #enitalia. The peculiar feature of Cline narrati!e is the flood of slan# eBpressions and his eBtraordinar$ #ift for crac4in# .o4es full of o scene humors% which suddenl$ !eer off in academic passa#es full of empirical data on 6ews% li erals% communists% nationalists% 0itlerites and the whole panopl$ of famed 5uropean characters. 2ut here we accept this% the oo#ie-woo#ie of the doctors% of the worst hallucino#enic ne#rito 6ews% as ein# worth #ood mone$HG "ncredi leH The !er$ least diploma% the !er$ least new ma#ic charm% ma4es the ne#roid delirious% and ma4es all of the ne#roid 6ews flush with prideH This is somethin# that e!er$ od$ 4nowsG "t has een the same wa$ with our own Ji4es e!er since their 2uddha Freud deli!ered unto them the 4e$s to the soulH Mortal Voyage to Endtimes "n the modern academic esta lishment Cline is still widel$ discussed and his first no!els 6ourne$ to the 5nd of the Ni#ht and Ieath on the "nstallment Elan are still used as 2ildun#sroman for the modern culture of $outh re ellion. Fhen these two no!els were first pu lished in the earl$ <8/s of the twentieth centur$% the 5uropean leftist cultural esta lishment made a ;uic4 mo!e to recuperate Cline as of one of its own. Cline al4ed. Dore than an$ other author his a horrence of the 5uropean hi#h our#eoisie could not eclipse his profound hatred of leftist mimicr$. Neither does he spare leftists scri es% nor does he show merc$ for the spirit of >Earisianism.? Ansurpassa le in st$le and #raphics are Cline/s sa!a#in# caricatures of a#ed Earisian our#eois im os posturin# with false teeth and fa4e tits in ;uest of a rich man/s ride. 0ad Cline pandered to the leftists% he would ha!e ecome !er$ richK he would ha!e een awarded a No el Eri3e lon# a#o. "n the late @8/s the our#eonin# hippie mo!ement on the American Fest Coast also tried to lump him to#ether with its #odfather 6ac4 Jerouac% who was himself enthralled with Cline/s wor4. 0owe!er% an$ modest reference to his 2a#atelles or 5cole des Cada!res has alwa$s carefull$ een s4ipped o!er or ne!er mentioned. 5;uall$ hushed up is Cline/s last $ear of FF"" when% unli4e hundreds of 5uropean nationalist scholars% artists and no!elists% he miraculousl$ escaped French communist firin# s;uads or the Allied #allows. 0is endless .ourne$ to the end of the ni#ht en!isioned no eams of sunshine on the 5uropean hori3on. "n fact% his endless trip too4 a nast$ turn in the late ')** and earl$ ')*@% when Cline% alon# with thousands of 5uropean nationalist intellectuals% includin# the remnants of the French pro-9erman colla orationist #o!ernment fled to southern 9erman$% a countr$ still holdin# firm in face of the oncomin# disaster. The whole of 5urope had een alread$ set a la3e $ death-spittin# American 2'=/s from a o!e and rapin# So!iet soldiers emer#in# in the 5ast. These .ud#ment da$ scenes are depicted in his postwar no!els Dun chteau lautre &Castle to Castle- and 1i#odoon. Cline/s sentences are now more elliptic and the action in his no!els ecomes more d$namic and more re!ealin# of the unfoldin# 5uropean drama. 0is no!els offer us a surreal #aller$ of characters runnin# and hidin# in the ruins of 9erman$. Cne encounters former French hi#h politicians and countless artists facin# death people who% .ust a $ear a#o% dreamt that the$ would last fore!er. No sin#le piece of

5uropean literature is as !i!id in the portra$al of human fic4leness on the ed#e of life and death as are these last of Cline/s no!els. 2ut Cline/s in!eterate pessimism is alwa$s couched in self-derision and alwa$s stun# with lac4 humor. 5!en when sentenced in a sentia durin# his eBile in Ienmar4% he ne!er lapses into self pit$ or cheap sentimentalism. 0is code of honor and his political !iews ha!e not chan#ed a it from his first no!el. Apon his return to France in ')@'% the remainin# $ears of Cline/s life were marred $ le#al harassment% literar$ ostracism% and po!ert$. Alon# with hundreds of thousands Frenchmen he was su .ected to pu lic re u4e that still continues to shape the intellectual scene in France. Toda$% howe!er% this literar$ ostracism a#ainst free spirits is wrapped up in strin#ent >anti-hate? laws enforced $ the thou#ht police =8 $ears after FF""H Stripped of all his elon#in#s% Cline% until his death% continued to use his trainin# as a ph$sician to pro!ide medical help to his e;uall$ disfranchised su ur an countr$men. Alwa$s free of char#e and alwa$s remainin# a fru#al and modest man.

Tom Sunic &http://www.tomsunic.com/ - is author% translator% former AS professor in political science and a former diplomat. 0is new oo4% Eostmortem 1eport: Cultural 5Baminations from Eostmodernit$% prefaced $ Je!in DacIonald% has .ust een released.