Inflation Capitaliste Et Déperdition Identitaire Dans Le Roman Français De L'extrême Contemporain

Abstract

From both a thematic and narrative point of view, money is more than ever a real obsession in contemporary novel and inspires a completely perverted aesthetics. The works of critically acclaimed and best-selling writers such as Christine Angot, Michel Houellebecq, and Guillaume Dustan exemplify such a phenomenon. Much more than a sheer leitmotiv, money in their fictions gives birth to a whole network of lexical fields and images. The impossibility of escaping its powerful grip is absolute in both substance and form. More particularly, the capitalist model itself inspires a style haunted by productivity and competitiveness; hence metaphors and copy/paste operations that alienate authors, characters, and ultimately readers in an endless introspection. Identity crisis and disillusionment constitute the bitter mirror of a society in which every human being, such as a banknote, is interchangeable, cold, and tasteless.