In 1895 Joris-Karl Huysmans’ novel “En Route” was published,
it is the second novel to feature the character Durtal, and is a thinly veiled
autobiographical piece. As the Dedalus
European Classics version on “En Route” explains on the back cover:
En Route continues
the story of Durtal, a modern anti-hero; solitary, agonised and alienated.
Robbed of religion and plunged into decadence by the pressures of modern life,
Durtal discovers a new road to Rome. Art, architecture and music light his way
back to God. For Durtal, God’s death is a temporary demise, and by the end of
the novel, he is morally mended and spiritually healed.
At the turn of the twentieth century Huysmans earned the
hostility of the Catholic Church as a result of this book and it was also condemned
for obscenity. As an aside, it was also a work which was requested by Oscar
Wilde during his incarceration, one would think earning further fame.
Why am I writing about Joris-Karl Huysmans as an introduction
to Michel Houellebecq’s newest novel “Submission”? Besides the fact that the
book contains an epigraph from En route, there
are numerous parallels to our 2015 publication. Our narrator is a professor
whose dissertation “Joris-Karl Huysmans: Out of the Tunnel” and is a world
renowned expert in Huysmans work. Houellebecq’s novel contains numerous
references to Huysmans novel and the theme of a character “plunged into
decadence by the pressures of modern life” and discovering a new road via
religion is central to our controversial book.
François, is our middle aged academic first person narrator,
and he is alone, failed relationships with students, living alone, not bonding
with any of the other university staff, our loner is estranged from his parents
and his life is leading nowhere. Through exploring Huysmans in detail our
narrator decides that a spiritual path may also lead him out of the wilderness.
However instead of a backdrop of surging
Catholicism we are in 2022 and the Muslim Fraternity is all the rage:
The facts were plain: Europe had
reached a point of such putrid decomposition that it could no longer save
itself, any more than fifth-century Rome could have done. This wave of new
immigrants, with their traditional culture – of natural hierarchies, the
submission of women and respect for elders – offered a historic opportunity for
the moral and familial rearmament of Europe. These immigrants held out the home
of a new golden age for the old continent. Some were Christian; but there was
no denying that the vast majority were Muslim.
As a background to our narrator’s journey of self-discovery,
the French Presidential election for 2022 is fast approaching and the rise of
Muhammed Ben Abbes of the Muslim Fraternity is polarising the nation. Ben Abbes
is a political genius, forming political
alliances with mainstream parties who have lost their lustre and as a result he
sweeps into power.
Our novel then explores the fears of the everyday population
as Islamic law comes into force, the education system is changed to only
provide Islamic teachings, the women are all veiled, skirts are replaced by
pants, polygamy and teenage marriage is encouraged, and François suddenly needs
to adapt.
Never one to shirk controversy Houellebecq was taken to
court in 2002 for inciting racial hatred and has been criticised as obscene and
misogynistic. This latest novel, again courts controversy, simply by addressing
the white elephant in the room, the proliferation of Muslims in France. Again
there are “vulgar” scenes, with detailed descriptions of our protagonist’s
outings with escorts, again there is the questioning of religion, however this
isn’t simply sensationalist trash in order to sell books, it is part homage to
Huysmans, part mid-life crisis novel, part political debate.
François dates a Jewish girl, who in the lead up to the
elections decides to retreat to Israel, the intelligencia are also vilified:
When I went in to teach my class,
I finally felt that something might happen, that the political system I’d grown
up with, which had been showing cracks for so long, might suddenly explode. I
don’t know exactly where the feeling came from. Maybe it was the attitude of my
postgrad students: even the most apathetic and apolitical looked tense,
anxious. They were obviously searching their smartphones and tablets for any
news they could find. Or at any rate, they were more checked out than ever. It
may have also been the way the girls in burkas carried themselves. They moved
slowly and with new confidence, walking down the very middle of the hallway,
three by three, as if they were already in charge.
I was equally struck by my
colleagues’ lack of concern. They seemed completely unworried, as if none of
this had anything to do with them. It only confirmed what I’d always thought –
that, for all their education, university professors can’t even imagine
political developments having any effect on their careers: they consider
themselves untouchable.
Previously I have reviewed Houellebecq’s “The Map And The Territory”
winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 2010, where the author himself is
vilified, where Houellebecq is murdered. Whilst thyat work was clever,
enjoyable and a reflection again on mid-life crisis and the image of ourselves,
his latest book delves further into the “threat” of an “imposed” culture.
Personally only having a scant knowledge of Huysmans’ works, Houellebecq’s “Submission”
has forced me into purchasing “En Route” so the parallel’s between the two
books can be explored further. Another work to add to the “to be read” pile,
however as a stand alone book, “Submission” explores a range of fears and
themes that are currently being avoided by the mainstream and to highlight the
rise of Islam, aligning it to the rise of Europe and the domination of
Christianity is a fine approach indeed. An enjoyable novel, a very readable book,
one that leaves many questions unanswered, a melting pot of cultures.
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