Soumission, le roman de la conversion Houellebecq, le réel et la fiction

Abstract

Houellebecq’s fiction isdiscussed, contested and critiqued, not only as a series of aesthetic objects but alsoin political, ideological or moral terms. This contribution is an invitation to thinkabout the centre of gravity inthe triangle of realism-fiction-authority in Submission, Michel Houellebecq’smost controversial novel. We advancethe hypothesis that Islam in Submissionhasa fictional function analogous to that of post-humanism in Atomised.That would be essentially a matter of surface, provocation to draw attention to an older deeper crisis. This crisis would be that of Western civilization, onethatFrance willnot escapefrom, characterizedby a process of generalized«untying», or even«disintegration» of « values»and the world that they formed.