Reading Houellebecq and His Fictions
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2018 Reading Houellebecq And His Fictions Sterling Kouri University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Recommended Citation Kouri, Sterling, "Reading Houellebecq And His Fictions" (2018). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 3140. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3140 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3140 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reading Houellebecq And His Fictions Abstract This dissertation explores the role of the author in literary criticism through the polarizing protagonist of contemporary French literature, Michel Houellebecq, whose novels have been both consecrated by France’s most prestigious literary prizes and mired in controversies. The polemics defining Houellebecq’s literary career fundamentally concern the blurring of lines between the author’s provocative public persona and his work. Amateur and professional readers alike often assimilate the public author, the implied author and his characters, disregarding the inherent heteroglossia of the novel and reducing Houellebecq’s works to thesis novels necessarily expressing the private opinions and prejudices of the author. This thesis explores an alternative approach to Houellebecq and his novels. Rather than employing the author’s public figure to read his novels, I proceed in precisely the opposite direction, employing the implied author derived from his novels to read his public author figure. My first chapter, Reading Houellebecq and his fictions, explores the evolutions in the author’s public presentation that render personalist readings of his work particularly problematic. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 Houellebecq’s Islamophobic, Misogynistic and Racist Character(s) reveal attenuating factors in the scenes of enunciation and the characterization of the speakers that systematically undermine the Islamophobic, misogynistic and racist discourse in these novels, preserving the author’s possible difference of opinion. Despite myriad doubts sewn throughout these narratives, however, the portrayal of minority characters in Michel Houellebecq’s novels not only fails to provide a compelling counterargument, it overwhelmingly coincides with the ideas of his Islamophobic, misogynistic and racist speakers. Our narratological analysis of Michel Houellebecq’s novels, therefore, shows that the implied author broadly corresponds to the public author’s unsavory reputation as an Islamophobe, “réactionnaire, cynique, raciste et misogyne honteux” (Houellebecq Ennemis 7). From this perspective, the author may strategically package himself as a provocateur and satirist as a means of expressing his Islamophobia, misogyny and racism with impunity. The results of this dissertation, however, by no means justify a personalist approach to literary criticism. Houllebecq’s case suggests that the presence of a provocative public author merits an even more intense focus on his writing. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Romance Languages First Advisor Gerald J. Prince Keywords Authorship, Islamophobia, Media persona, Misogyny, Narratology, Racism This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3140 READING HOUELLEBECQ AND HIS FICTIONS Sterling Kouri A DISSERTATION in French For the Graduate Group in Romance Languages Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 Supervisor of Dissertation ____________________________ Gerald Prince, Professor of Romance Languages Graduate Group Chairperson ___________________________ Gerald Prince, Professor of Romance Languages Dissertation Committee Andrea Goulet, Professor of Romance Languages Scott Francis, Assistant Professor of Romance Language ABSTRACT READING HOUELLEBECQ AND HIS FICTIONS Sterling Kouri Gerald Prince This dissertation explores the role of the author in literary criticism through the polarizing protagonist of contemporary French literature, Michel Houellebecq, whose novels have been both consecrated by France’s most prestigious literary prizes and mired in controversies. The polemics defining Houellebecq’s literary career fundamentally concern the blurring of lines between the author’s provocative public persona and his work. Amateur and professional readers alike often assimilate the public author, the implied author and his characters, disregarding the inherent heteroglossia of the novel and reducing Houellebecq’s works to thesis novels necessarily expressing the private opinions and prejudices of the author. This thesis explores an alternative approach to Houellebecq and his novels. Rather than employing the author’s public figure to read his novels, I proceed in precisely the opposite direction, employing the implied author derived from his novels to read his public author figure. My first chapter, Reading Houellebecq and his fictions, explores the evolutions in the author’s public presentation that render personalist readings of his work particularly problematic. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 Houellebecq’s Islamophobic, Misogynistic and Racist Character(s) reveal attenuating factors in the scenes of enunciation and the characterization of the speakers that systematically undermine the Islamophobic, misogynistic and racist discourse in these novels, preserving the author’s possible difference of opinion. Despite myriad doubts sewn throughout these narratives, however, the portrayal of minority characters in Michel ii Houellebecq’s novels not only fails to provide a compelling counterargument, it overwhelmingly coincides with the ideas of his Islamophobic, misogynistic and racist speakers. Our narratological analysis of Michel Houellebecq’s novels, therefore, shows that the implied author broadly corresponds to the public author’s unsavory reputation as an Islamophobe, “réactionnaire, cynique, raciste et misogyne honteux” (Houellebecq Ennemis 7). From this perspective, the author may strategically package himself as a provocateur and satirist as a means of expressing his Islamophobia, misogyny and racism with impunity. The results of this dissertation, however, by no means justify a personalist approach to literary criticism. Houllebecq’s case suggests that the presence of a provocative public author merits an even more intense focus on his writing. iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. II CHAPTER 1: READING HOUELLEBECQ AND HIS FICTIONS ............................. 1 CHAPTER 2: HOUELLEBECQ’S ISLAMOPHOBIC CHARACTER(S) ............... 61 CHAPTER 3: HOUELLEBECQ’S MISOGYNISTIC CHARACTER(S) .............. 144 CHAPTER 4: HOUELLEBECQ’S RACIST CHARACTER(S) ............................... 215 DISSERTATION CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 277 WORKS CITED: ...................................................................................................................... 281 iv CHAPTER 1: READING HOUELLEBECQ AND HIS FICTIONS “‘Elle a pas mal changé’ dit Jed.’ Enfin, sur le plan personnel. Professionnellement, par contre, pas du tout. C’est impressionnant quand même à quel point les gens coupent leur vie en deux parties qui n’ont aucune communication, qui n’interagissent absolument pas l’une sur l’autre. Je trouve stupéfiant qu’ils y réussissent aussi bien.’” (Houellebecq La Carte et le territoire 157-158) Provocation and Response, Houellebecq’s public figure and his reception: Over the last three decades, Michel Houellebecq and his novels have garnered considerable attention in the mainstream media—more so, perhaps, than any of his contemporaries in French literature. Yet despite receiving some of the most prestigious literary prizes, Houellebecq has polarized the reading public. In 1998, he was conferred the last Prix Novembre (since re-baptized the Prix Décembre) because the founder promptly withdrew his financial support to protest the selection of Les Particules élémentaires. In 2005, despite being the odds-on favorite for the Prix Goncourt, La Possibilité d’une île was snubbed by a jury who reportedly did not so much choose “Weyergans's novel, but simply, [...voted] against Houellebecq” (Cloonan 45-46). When Houellebecq finally brought home the Prix Goncourt in 2010 with his artist’s novel, La Carte et le territoire, his success was tainted by accusations of plagiarizing Wikipedia (Aissaiou). A quick survey of the subjects broached in Michel Houellebecq’s novels helps to explain the controversy of his critical and commercial success. The depressed and dejected hero of Extension du domaine de la lutte [1994] contemplates committing a 1 double homicide out of sexual jealousy. The middle-aged and sex obsessed Bruno—half of the fraternal duo featured in Les Particules élémentaires [1998] —fails to seduce one of his teenage students before penning a racist tract targeting her boyfriend’s ethnicity. Bruno later encounters the love of his life, Christiane, a sexually liberated swinger who offers an unexpectedly scathing criticism of the feminist movement. Plateforme [2001] not only explores the sexual tourism industry in Thailand, but also presents several islamophobic characters whose critiques are