Articles
ISLAM IN MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ’S NOVELS
Michel Houellebecq’s take on Islam changed drastically through the years. He first described it as the remnant of an antiquated order, based on superstition and backward principles. He then used Islamic terrorism as a violent limit to its character’s complacent plight for pleasure. But his denunciation of Islam extremism is accompanied by a stronger condemnation of capitalism. Submission is Houellebecq’s ultimate opportunity to combine and transform two dreaded ideologies into one benevolent system that could potentially benefit his hero, the ill-fated homunculus.