Le Monde de Houellebecq by Gavin Bowd

Abstract

532 Reviews Ranciere says, 'manners of speaking, manners of doing and manners of being' (p. i). For his part, Ranciere gives a slightly different explanation of the linkbetween aes thetics and politics by emphasizing how his recentwork isdedicated to interrogating theassumptions involved in theories of the end of grand narratives and of themoder nist paradigm in art, revealing in both instances that 'time as a form of distribution of the possible and the impossible' (p. 23) creates an epochal foreclosure thatmust be reopened by 'substituting a topography of the re-distribution of the possible and amultiplicity of line of temporality' (p. 23). Peter Hallward asks whether the subver sion ofmastery atwork in such revelations of the contingency of social order and the distribution of time leaves out the importance of 'the concrete social changes usually associated with theonset of the "democratic age" in the early nineteenth century (ur banization, the development of a commercial public sphere, expansion of the press, consolidationof thenation state)' (p. 37). Jeremy Valentinefast-forwards thiscriticism to our contemporary culture, forwhich he claims the symbolic order has been sys tematically undercut by a new psycho-technological 'practical deconstruction' (p. 58) that is self-reflexivelycontingent and requires new political innovations not offeredby Ranciere's binary opposition between the symbolic police order and non-symbolic political disagreement. However, Valentine's critique is not made in reference to Ranciere's descriptions of contemporary society, causing one towonder as to the va lidity of his refutation.Andrew Gibson gives an impressive portrait of Ranciere in termsofwhat he calls theunderstated, ifnot sometimes unstated, intermittency and melancholy thatpervade his writings on both politics and aesthetics. His embrace of an artistic presence that isalways absence and a political emancipation thatbursts onto the scene only todisappear ispraised because itallows foran appreciation of the 'de lirium of history' (p. 74), its lack of teleology. In addition tohis introduction, Robson assesses Ranciere's work in the context of a broader post-Kantian philosophical mo dernism, affirmingthe importance ofhiswork specifically fortheunderstanding of the last two centuries of our democratic age. This is a helpful reading because Ranciere's work isoften considered onlywithin its immediate post-Althusserian context. This collection of essays gives a good introduction to themost impressive aspect ofRanciere's thought, itspotential togive political emancipation and artistic practice back their urgency by disputing the end of both. It also shows how his ability to reactivate the subversion of hierarchy inherent in language isbought by avoiding the concrete social transformations that,while developing along multiple temporalities, certainly follow tendencies that can be linked to the advent of capitalist forms of production. MARLBORO COLLEGE,VERMONT CHRISTOPHER CARLTON Le Monde de Houellebecq. Ed. by GAVIN BOWD. Glasgow: University ofGlasgow French and German Publications. 20o6. xviii+286 pp. ?20. ISBN 978-o 8526I-812-7. In October 2005 the Scottish Poetry Library inEdinburgh hosted 'The World of Houellebecq', an international conference timed to coincide with the publication of the translation of Houellebecq's La Possibilite d'une ile by Gavin Bowd, long-time friend of the author and organizer of the conference. Delegates were treated to a glimpse intoHouellebecq's world by virtue of an extensive media presence: an every day occurrence for l'objetd'etude himself, no doubt, but unusual for thegentlerworld of French Studies. Such journalistic interest gets us quickly to theheart ofHouelle becq's significance. For his many detractors, the fact that themachine publicitaire swings into action with such ease when he is in town indicates the complicity of his MLR, I02.2, 2007 533 work with theworld of consumerism and media spectacle itdepicts. For such critics, Houellebecq's work lacks the literaryquality which alone can resist the logic of the market; itwas forprecisely these reasons that, days after the end of theEdinburgh conference, La Possibilite d'une ilewas passed over for the 2005 Prix Goncourt. The twentycontributors to this volume had better be in the business of denunciation, it would seem, ifthey want toavoid contamination by this least aesthetic ofprovocateurs. Yet most of the essays here seem happy to take this risk. Which isnot to relegate the collection tomere boosterism: far from it.Very few remain uncritical, in fact; almost allmaintain a lucid approach throughout, and are...