Un vibrant plaidoyer pour un retour a l'amour et a la compassion dans l'oeuvre de Michel Houellebecq

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 2025
Journal Cahiers Erta
Pages (from-to) 49-77
Number of pages 28
Organisations
  • Faculty of Humanities (FGw) - Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR) - Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH)
Abstract
In the work of French writer Michel Houellebecq, contemporary existence is characterized by a deep and pervasive loneliness. This condition arises from the crisis of masculinity, the disappearance of a transcendent or spiritual framework, and the alienating mechanisms of late-capitalist consumer culture. Rather than offering a purely literary diagnosis, Houellebecq develops his critique through a hybrid methodology that combines sociological observation, philosophical reflection, and narrative experimentation. His novels function as laboratories in which the tensions of modernity are staged and dissected, often through provocative exaggeration and irony. Yet Houellebecq’s outlook is not entirely bleak: he also points to the possibility of a paradigm shift in which authenticity, compassion, and love regain primacy. In this way, his work situates itself at the intersection of literature and cultural theory, articulating both a critique of contemporary subjectivity and an appeal to revalorize enduring human values.
Document type Article
Language French
Published at
https://doi.org/10.26881/erta.2025.43.03 (Final published version)
Downloads
WESEMAEL (Final published version)
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