Huge bad buzz in dark romance publishing. A disturbing novel sold online would today go beyond the (already loose) limits of toxic love, by depicting a much worse transgression: the pedophilia of the protagonist. And now questions psychologists and book professionals. Does dark romance go too far, and how do you react when a story no longer has limits?
Massive controversy surrounding a book deemed “unbearable”
For several weeks, Body to heart thus sparks a wave of indignation on social networks and online sales platforms. Many readers denounce descriptions deemed extremely explicit of sexual violence involving minors (and an infant), evoking a “traumatic” and morally problematic work. On Amazon, the only platform where the book is available, negative comments are piling up, some speaking of “sexual depictions involving young minors” described in detail.
Faced with the scale of the controversy, an online petition has collected more than 50,000 signatures (at the time of writing) to request the withdrawal of the book. The signatories believe that the work “crosses an ethical and legal red line, recalling that the dissemination of sexualized representations of minors is severely regulated by French law (article 227-23 of the Penal Code). Political leaders have even announced that they will contact the competent authorities.
For her part, the author clears herself, and affirms that her novel includes clear warnings and trigger warnings from the first pages, as well as a mention specifying that it is a dark romance intended for an adult and informed audience. She also explains that she voluntarily explores taboo and disturbing subjects without condoning them.
When dark romance turns into major transgression
However, for psychologist Amélie Boukhobza, the debate goes far beyond the framework of a simple dark or provocative fiction.
“At this stage, we are no longer talking about sulphurous dark romance. We are talking about a story that romanticizes rape of minors. Of babies. It is no longer just provocation, it is a major transgression”she emphasizes.
Literature, she reminds us, has never been a stranger to the exploration of violence and horror. From Sade to
Lolita by Nabokov, some works depicted sexual violence. But the essential distinction lies in the way these subjects are treated.
“There is a difference between showing and glorifying. Between exploring and exciting. The limit is there. When a text eroticizes sexual violence against children, it no longer represents the inhuman: it transforms it into an object of fantasy. It moves the absolute prohibition onto the terrain of desire. And that changes everything”,
she explains.
In other words, dark romance is historically based on symbolic transgression and moral tension. But when the abject becomes an eroticized narrative spring, the line between transgressive fiction and exploitation of the forbidden becomes dangerously blurred. “Dark romance thrives on transgression and promises maximum emotional intensity. But when there are no more limits, even symbolic ones, we no longer talk about the exploration of dark zones. We talk about the exploitation of the forbidden”analyzes the psychologist.
Why these representations are considered particularly reprehensible
The indignation aroused by the work can also be explained by the very nature of the violence mentioned.
“Child crime is not just another fantasy. It is a massive, destructive crime, which leaves deep psychological after-effects. Eroticizing this violence contributes to an imagination where the child ceases to be a subject to become an object “, recalls Amélie Boukhobza.
Even if it is a work of fiction, cultural representations help shape social tolerances and what becomes thinkable. The issue is therefore not only moral, but symbolic. “Stories contribute to the construction of the collective imagination. When the absolute prohibition is moved towards the register of desire, this modifies the perception of the seriousness of acts”she specifies.
This does not mean, however, that all disturbing fiction should be censored. “Putting down guidelines is not puritanism. Age ratings, clear warnings and broadcast restrictions are symbolic frameworks, like in cinema or pornography.”
What psychological impact on readers?
On a psychological level, repeated exposure to violent, sexualized stories can produce variable effects.
“Even an adult reader can be subjected to a phenomenon of desensitization. By dint of being narrated in an excitatory register, horror loses its radically unacceptable dimension. That’s what’s serious”, explains Amélie Boukhobza.
The brain then associates emotional intensity and stimulation, which can trivialize certain representations. “This obviously does not make a reader a criminal. But at best, it trivializes. At worst, it can blur the lines.”she adds.
Among adolescents, the impact is considered even more worrying. “Adolescence is the time when the sexual script is constructed. We learn what it means to desire, to consent, to refuse. If violence against minors is integrated into a romanticized story, the implicit message becomes dangerous: extreme can seem seductive, and domination can be confused with intensity..
A phenomenon which goes beyond the simple moral question and touches on psychological and symbolic structuring.
My teenager read this book: how should I react?
Faced with the accessibility of certain content online, many parents worry about how to react if their teenager has been exposed to this type of reading. For Amélie Boukhobza, the first rule is to avoid moral panic.
“Confiscating without discussion makes no sense,”
she insists.
The priority remains dialogue. It is essential to ask the adolescent what he or she felt: discomfort, shock, fascination, indifference. “Many teenagers are actually deeply shocked by this type of content. We must allow them to say it, without making them feel guilty”specifies the psychologist.
The next step is to put a clear framework in place:
“We must reaffirm reality: in life, these are crimes. Children are destroyed by this violence. Fiction can explore human darkness, but it must in no case dissolve the seriousness of things.”
Finally, it is a question of restoring what the psychologist calls “symbolic and symboligenic limits”: remembering that a fundamental prohibition – the protection of children – constitutes a pillar of social bond.
“We do not moralize, we contextualize. We explain. And above all, we remind that fictional transgression never erases the reality of crimes or their seriousness.”
When the digital age questions gravity
Beyond the controversy, the affair thus questions more broadly the boundaries of fiction in the digital age: how far can literature go in transgression without falling into the trivialization of the unacceptable? A question that goes beyond the sole editorial field and touches on the cultural, psychological and societal responsibilities of works distributed to a potentially young and impressionable audience.
As if to lay a first stone, Amazon in turn published this afternoon: “We immediately investigate any reports and remove non-compliant books. We are urgently examining the reported title and will take the necessary measures.”