Introduction, ‘La France, ce n’est pas Michel Houellebecq’

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In this regard, one need only compare the coverage of Houellebecq’s mediatised popularity with that of Patrick Modiano, a contemporary French writer whose Nobel prize win was met with an almost blanket indifference both in France and elsewhere.

2. Including Benjamin Boysen (2016) ‘Houellebecq’s Priapism: The Failure of Sexual Liberation in Michel Houellebecq’s Novels and Essays.’ Canadian Review of Comparative Literature/Revue Canadienne de Littérature Comparéo, 43 (3): 477–497.

3. Alexandre Gefen, Répaper le monde (Paris: Corti, 2017). We acknowledge that perhaps Houellebecq’s work might sit rather uneasily in Gefen’s corpus of writers who strive to improve the world through their work.

4. Other notable journal articles published since 2015 are Murray Pratt (2017), Armus (2018), Morrey (2018), Berg-Sørensen (2017).

5. This special issue uses both the original French versions of Houellebecq’s work and the novels in English translation. This editorial decision acknowledges the expansion of scholarly interest in Houellebecq’s work outside of Modern Language departments in English and Comparative Literature studies as well in other disciplines.

6. He won this prize in October 2018.

7. See Morrison (2008), Baverez (2004), Chaffel (2010); Robert Frank’s The Fear of Decline: France from 1914 to 2014.