A petition has been started to oppose a planned event that will present the writings of Charles Maurras, a far-right intellectual known for his antisemitism, support for monarchy, and opposition to the Dreyfus affair, a major political scandal in late 19th-century France. The event is set to take place on Friday as part of a conference on authors who wrote in the Provençal language, which is a regional dialect spoken in southern France. The conference is being held at the Ceccano media library in Avignon, a city in the Vaucluse department, as part of the annual Provençal Week. According to the local news outlet ICI Vaucluse, the petition had collected nearly 433 signatures by midday on Monday, September 28. The petitioners argue that Maurras cannot be treated like any other félibre, a member of a literary and cultural movement dedicated to promoting the Provençal language and culture. They believe that celebrating his work "apolitically" is not enough, as his ideas were deeply tied to far-right and discriminatory views. The petitioners feel that simply placing his texts in a different cultural or historical context does not erase the harmful nature of his beliefs. The city council and the director of Avignon’s libraries have defended the decision to include Maurras, emphasizing the concept of "recontextualization" — the idea that historical figures and their works should be examined in the context of their time, rather than judged by modern standards. However, the petitioners disagree, stating that in today's climate, where racist and hateful rhetoric is becoming more common, it is important to remain vigilant and not allow harmful ideologies to be normalized through cultural events. The petitioners argue that it is the responsibility of cultural institutions and the public to remember the dangers of history and to act in a way that prevents the spread of harmful ideas. They believe that by including Maurras’s work in this event, the organizers are indirectly giving credibility to his views, which they consider unacceptable in modern society.