The Price of Inequality | Author and sociologist Édouard Louis in conversation with literary scholar Maaike Koffeman, sociologist Francesco Cerchiaro and educationalist Eddie Denessen

For weeks, the main hall of the lecture hall complex had been sold out, in anticipation of a lecture and discussion with Édouard Louis, nom de plume of Eddy Bellegueule (1992). In 2014, he launched himself into literature with his award-winning debut En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule. In ten years, he has published six more novels, all inspired by his origins in a toxic working-class environment, plagued by poverty, domestic violence, racism and homophobia. Last year, he launched his latest salvo at this environment with his novel L'effondrement, now focused on his older brother who died at the age of 38 from excessive alcohol consumption. Publisher De Bezige Bij is responsible for the publication of all seven of his novels.

Louis' arrival in Nijmegen is also one of the highlights of Wintertuin's annual literary week. The evening of science was given a fitting opening with an ode by writer Milio van de Kamp, who made his debut in 2023 with the telling title Misschien moet je iets lager mikken ('Maybe you should aim a little lower'). Van de Kamp, who, like his great example Louis, managed to climb out of a poor home situation into the academic world, borrowed the title from the advice of one of his teachers in response to his dream of becoming a writer. Thanks to Édouard, I came into contact with literature, said Van de Kamp in his affectionate laudatory speech to the guest of honour. He gave him the confidence to succeed as a writer. People from his background are all too easily ignored, except by Édouard, Van de Kamp recalled during a gathering. 'He is someone who knows what it means to be invisible.' 

Inequality of opportunity

Professor Eddie Denessen was the first of three Radboud scholars to talk to the French author. He shared with him the possibilities of education in bridging inequality of opportunity, also the subject of his inaugural lecture in 2024.

After all, Louis managed to break free from his environment through education, reaching the highest rung of the ladder with his training as a sociologist at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Is this a prime example of meritocracy, or in other words, is this rise up the ladder a reward for his own efforts and talent? Was his education the driving force behind his escape from his background? Louis nuanced the role of his own talent and intelligence. It was more complex than that, he explained, describing the impossibility of expressing his otherness and homosexuality within his environment of origin. In order to live, “I had to escape this environment, I had no other choice”. When Denessen asked him what needed to change first if education was to play a genuine role as a social emancipator, Louis did not have to think long: 'Reduce the influence of the family on educational opportunities.' 

Structures of violence

The common thread throughout the evening was the author's reluctance to focus on individual commitment, in favour of paying much greater attention to the underlying social structures – with thanks from Louis to Pierre Bourdieu, one of his greatest sources of inspiration. This French sociologist, anthropologist and cultural critic has, after all, studied “social reproduction” exhaustively: the transfer from generation to generation of even the most miserable circumstances, often without people being aware of it. It was precisely this insight that motivated Louis to write his latest novel about his brother. So intensely hated by him, moderator Cees Leijenhorst pointed out the paradox: why, then, was there still such a great need to understand him?

Yes, Louis confirmed: I hated him, he hated me, he hated women, he was a racist, violent, homophobic. But he still deserves the dissecting knife of this novel, precisely in order to put his finger on this sore spot. According to him, his brother's behaviour did not come out of nowhere, but was a product of his environment. The aim of his latest book is to bring this to light, “to make visible what we would rather not see”, and to achieve a better understanding. 'If you don't study the objective factors underlying violence, you can't defend yourself against it.' 

Raw emotions

In the land of equality, liberty and fraternity, mercilessly exposing inequality of opportunity is no easy task, as literary scholar Maaike Koffeman pointed out. How did you manage to penetrate the established bastion of the literary world with this analysis? It was indeed not an easy road, Louis recalled, mentioning a series of rejections of his first book. The rejection by the renowned publisher Gallimard was telling: 'Such poverty cannot exist in this country, can it? No reader will believe this.'

The raw tone that the author has now used in seven books was also, to put it mildly, rather unusual, as Louis ignored the usual template of not expressing too much emotion in literature. 'People prefer not to see too much pathos; you have to keep anger, fear and sadness at bay.' This is precisely what Louis distances himself from in his books. After all, in them, emotions are displayed unabashedly and unvarnished. 'It really doesn't take any effort,“ he replied to a question from the audience. 'Where I come from, people have no problem expressing their emotions.” It is no coincidence that his favourite TV genre is soap operas, he said, illustrating his “growing up in a world full of emotions”.

Every story counts

In the third and final science dialogue, sociologist Francesco Cerchiaro discussed the value of stories as a sociological method. Is the voice Louis gives his family members a true reflection of the stifling environment? These people's stories are not necessarily the truth, Louis agreed. But all these stories together bring you closer to the truth, especially because they are recorded by an insider-outsider. An outsider can even form a better picture of this than the people themselves. 'The characteristic of a hostile society is precisely that it blinds people to their own selves.'

Every story has a right to exist, Louis believes. As a step closer to the truth, as a step towards a more equal world. I don't need to change the world with it, says the author. 'If one gay person comes to me and tells me that my books helped them come out, then a lot has been gained.' On another occasion, a woman revealed that he gave her the final push she needed to leave a violent marriage. My literature is not a quest for immortality, Louis told his audience. 'It's about now. About how we can change our lives today.'