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Houellebecq's France

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Crowley, MPV 

Abstract

This article starts from the observation that in La Carte et le territoire and Soumission, Houellebecq thematizes the current state of France more directly than he had done in previous novels. Focussing on La Carte et le territoire as the site where this development begins, the article examines how this novel represents France: not just what vision it offers of the country, but in particular, the techniques it employs to present this. Through detailed textual analysis, the article builds a picture of Houellebecq’s referential protocol as composed of invitations to synecdochic extrapolation punctured by moments of literal reproduction, and shows that the meaning of La Carte et le territoire resides in the relation between these two techniques.

Description

Keywords

French literature, 1900-1999, Houellebecq, Michel(1958- ), 0000 0001 2137 320X, novel, <i>La Carte et le territoire</i>(2010), <i>The Map and the Territory</i>, narrative technique, France

Journal Title

Australian Journal of French Studies

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0004-9468
2046-2913

Volume Title

56

Publisher

Monash University