CULTURAL DECLINE, CAPITALIST DETERRITORIALIZATION, AND SOCIAL DEGENERATION IN HOUELLEBECQ’S FICTION
CARMEN PETCUABSTRACT. I draw on a substantial body of theoretical research (e.g. Abecassis, 2000; Ahearne, 2017; Attridge, 2017; Holzer, 2003; McCann, 2010; Morrey, 2014; Schoolcraft III and Golsan, 2007) on Houellebecq’s image of capitalist globalization, the depressive narrative voice of his novels, and the peripheral status of his male protagonists within the sexual marketplace. Houellebecq’s fiction is consecrated to depicting facets of the apparent degradation of contemporary French society. His novels are filled with multivarious kinds of established culture-shaping discourses that sometimes are linked to entities customarily immersed in the realm of culture.
Keywords: cultural decline; capitalist deterritorialization; social degeneration
How to cite: Petcu, Carmen (2018). “Cultural Decline, Capitalist Deterritorizalition, and Social Degeneration in Houellebecq’s Fiction,” Review of Contemporary Philosophy 17: 93–99.
Received 30 March 2018 • Received in revised form 5 June 2018
Accepted 9 June 2018 • Available online 30 June 2018
doi:10.22381/RCP1720186