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La Crise De La Postmodernité Et De La Masculinité Dans Les Romans De Michel Houellebecq

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La Crise De La Postmodernité Et De La Masculinité Dans Les Romans De Michel Houellebecq LA CRISE DE LA POSTMODERNITÉ ET DE LA MASCULINITÉ DANS LES ROMANS DE MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ By Copyright 2014 Gilles Viennot Submitted to the graduate degree program in the Department of French and Italian and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Chairperson Van Kelly Allan H. Pasco Caroline Jewers John T. Booker Philip Barnard Date Defended: May 16, 2014 The Dissertation Committee for GILLES VIENNOT certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: LA CRISE DE LA POSTMODERNITÉ ET DE LA MASCULINITÉ DANS LES ROMANS DE MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ Chairperson Van Kelly Date approved: May 30, 2014 ii Abstract. In the last twenty years, Michel Houellebecq has become one of the most prominent French writers, whose international renown is still growing. The author, however, is still misunderstood by some critics, for whom he is a vile masculinist, a sterile polemist, or an agitator as well as a media wizard whose texts lack content and significance. For others, he is discredited by his excessive pessimism and by the strange paradoxes and undecidable or shocking aspects that lie in his writings. In this dissertation, we argue that Houellebecq’s message is as strong as coherent, by analyzing his complex argumentation. Firstly, Houellebecq deplores the disaggregation of familial bonds. According to him, this lack of affective education leads to the disappearance of love. Rightfully deemed anticapitalistic, Houellebecq regards the professional world with severity. In the disenchanted and alarmist portrait he renders of the western civilization, by adapting each of his novels to the rapid changes that the world went through, Houellebecq contends that the contamination of meaning by absurdity and suffering, in relation to the impossibility of love, leads to the complete decomposition of reality, and sinks the world into a dark and inextricable simulacrum. An anticapitalistic manifesto as well as a portrait of damaged masculinity, Houellebecq’s message revolves around the destructive effects of the overwhelming economic axis which, according to him, rules the western world. This dissertation is informed by the theoretical arsenal and speculative thinking of metaphysician Jean Baudrillard, and philosophers and sociologists Zygmunt Bauman and Gilles Lipovetsky. It mostly refers to three novels by Houellebecq: Whatever (1994), The Elementary Particles (1998), and The Map and the Territory (2010). It describes one of the most important influences of Michel Houellebecq: Oswald Spengler. This work situates Houellebecq in relation to precursors and contemporary writers whose vision of the world and pessimism are in line with his views in several respects: Philippe Djian, Hervé Guibert, Vincent Ravalec, Régis Jauffret and Emmanuel Carrère. iii Houellebecq’s oeuvre is also compared to the feminist vision of writer Marie Desplechin, with the intention of balancing his harshly masculinist vision. Abstract. Au fil des vingt dernières années, Michel Houellebecq est devenu un auteur français crucial, dont la renommée internationale s’est accrue. Il reste pourtant incompris par une partie de la critique qui voit en lui un vil masculiniste, un polémiste stérile, ou un agitateur médiatique dénué de message substantiel. Pour d’autres, il est discrédité par son pessimisme excessif, et par les paradoxes étranges et le caractère indécidable que ses textes recèlent. Dans cette thèse, nous montrons que Michel Houellebecq délivre un message puissant et cohérent, dont nous nous attachons à détailler l’argumentation complexe. Michel Houellebecq déplore la désagrégation des liens familiaux. Selon lui, ce défaut d’éducation affective et sentimentale débouche sur la disparition du sentiment amoureux. Jugé à raison anticapitaliste, Michel Houellebecq décrit le monde du travail avec une grande sévérité. Dans le portrait désenchanté et alarmiste qu’il dresse de la société occidentale, en s’adaptant avec chaque nouveau roman aux changements rapides que celle-ci a connu entre-temps, l’auteur soutient que cette annexion du sens par l’absurde, conjuguée à l’impossibilité de l’amour, entraîne la déréalisation du monde, et sa plongée dans un simulacre morbide et inextricable. A mi-chemin entre une critique du capitalisme et un manifeste de la masculinité en souffrance, le message de Houellebecq s’axe sur les méfaits du tout économique qui régit la société. Pour cette raison, nous utilisons largement l’arsenal théorique et les pistes spéculatives développés par le métaphysicien Jean Baudrillard, et les sociologues Zygmunt Bauman et Gilles Lipovetsky. Cette thèse s’appuie essentiellement sur trois romans de Michel Houellebecq : Extension du domaine de la lutte (1994), Les particules élémentaires iv (1998), et La carte et le territoire (2010). Nous offrons également un aperçu théorique de l’œuvre de l’un des penseurs qui ont fortement influencé Michel Houellebecq, et qui imprègne ses textes : celle d’Oswald Spengler. Cette thèse s’ouvre enfin à quelques précurseurs et contemporains de Michel Houellebecq, qui, sur certains points, partagent la même vision du monde : Philippe Djian, Hervé Guibert, Vincent Ravalec, Régis Jauffret et Emmanuel Carrère. Ce travail présente enfin la vision féministe et féconde de Marie Desplechin, avec l’intention d’équilibrer la vision masculine de Michel Houellebecq. v Ackowledgments. This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Joëlle and Jean-Louis Viennot, as well as my grandparents, Gabrielle Peltier, Fernand Peltier, Angèle Viennot and André Viennot. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to my dissertation director, Professor Van Kelly, for his knowledge and his constant patience and determining support, as well as the committee, Professor Caroline Jewers, Professor John T. Booker, Professor Allan Pasco and Professor Philip Barnard, for their precious encouragements, feedback, and advice. Remerciements. Cette thèse est dédiée à mes parents, Joëlle et Jean-Louis Viennot, ainsi qu’à mes grands-parents, Gabrielle Peltier, Fernand Peltier, Angèle Viennot et André Viennot. Je tiens aussi à remercier chaleureusement mon directeur de thèse, Professeur Van Kelly, pour son savoir attentif, sa patience et son soutien déterminants, ainsi que l’ensemble du comité, Professeur Caroline Jewers, Professeur John T. Booker, Professeur Allan Pasco et Professeur Philip Barnard, pour leurs précieux encouragements et conseils. vi Table des Matières. Introduction. 1 Délimitation de la réflexion. 1 Houellebecq et les théoriciens de la postmodernité. 6 Les peurs masculines : Houellebecq face au féminisme. 19 Précurseurs et contemporains masculins partageant la même vision pessimiste. 28 Marie Desplechin : une représentation littéraire du féminisme par une auteure. 42 Oswald Spengler : Précurseur philosophique de la vision du monde de Houellebecq. 59 Présentation succincte de trois romans de Houellebecq. 76 Chapitre 1 : La famille décomposée. 86 Chapitre 2 : Le monde du travail : compétition délétère et asservissement des âmes. 111 Chapitre 3 : L’amour impossible. 155 Chapitre 4 : Le monde déréalisé. 200 Chapitre 5 : Monadisme morbide et anéantissement comme délivrance : 242 Parallèles entre les constats de Bauman et Houellebecq. Chapitre 6 : Pertinence du diagnostic et validité de la posture littéraire. 286 Conclusion. 345 vii Introduction. Le pays qui lui avait donné naissance basculait lentement, mais inéluctablement, dans la zone économique des pays moyen-pauvres ; fréquemment guettés par la misère, les hommes de sa génération passèrent en outre leur vie dans la solitude ou l’amertume. Les sentiments d’amour, de tendresse et de fraternité humaine avaient dans une large mesure disparu ; dans leurs rapports mutuels ses contemporains faisaient le plus souvent preuve d’indifférence, voire de cruauté. (Michel Houellebecq, Les particules élémentaires) Cette introduction se découpera en sept sections : nous préciserons d’abord les questions autour desquelles notre réflexion s’ordonnera. Ensuite, nous aborderons la vision de Houellebecq en lien avec celle de quelques théoriciens de la postmodernité aux conceptions voisines. Nous poursuivrons notre introduction par une approche des peurs masculines, avec lesquelles la hantise houellebecquienne du féminisme est en phase. Nous décrirons ensuite quelques précurseurs et contemporains masculins, dont les textes sont empreints d’un pessimisme comparable à celui de Houellebecq. En contraste, une brève étude de certains thèmes du féminisme, à travers leur représentation littéraire par une auteure, Marie Desplechin, nous permettra d’ouvrir ce travail à des considérations féministes nécessaires pour donner une représentation fidèle et juste de la vision masculine de Houellebecq. Enfin, nous présenterons Oswald Spengler, influence philosophique fondamentale de Houellebecq. Délimitation de la réflexion. Cette thèse se propose d’étudier la crise qui s’exprime dans les romans de Michel Houellebecq, en axant notre réflexion sur Extension du domaine de la lutte, Les particules élémentaires, et La carte et le territoire. Notre regard se portera sur la crise existentielle décrite par l’auteur. Ces romans sont écrits avec une perspective masculine : comme l’auteur, ses narrateurs sont tous masculins. D’autre part, même si Houellebecq donne une place 1 prépondérante (mais problématique) aux personnages féminins dans ses narrations, leur point de vue est souvent à peine esquissé. Notre travail se portera donc plus spécifiquement
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