Un air de rien chez Houellebecq. La désorientation dans le roman français hypermoderne

Abstract

The challenge of what we understand by hypermodern is that the concept does not fit in any French literary movement or school of thought. Is it that the hypermodern novel transmutes with each contemporary author? This article discusses how Houellebecq is one novelist who has adopted ideology as a shorthand for questioning the state of contemporary French society. Yet critical reality is far more complex—as Houellebecq is no realist writer—and it is conditioned by vested interest in what literature can say today in a world dominated by the image-truth paradigm. While Houellebecq gives the appearance of a reactionary figure, his œuvre is multi-faceted, notably with the issue of form as opposed to mere political message. It is therefore important to study the valence of culture and truth while at the same time nothing seems to be really happening in his far-fetched plots. Is it also the reason why Houellebecq dismisses the duality between aesthetics and mimesis? In a very Baudelairian fashion, Houellebecq’s sense of beauty strives in mediocre lives. The article analysis offers counter-arguments as well as a discussion on Houellebecq’s plea to reinvent the novel itself.