Since the publication of his first novel Extension du domaine de la lutte, Michel Houellebecq has pushed the boundaries of genre, moral scruples, and literary style, provoking a lively critical debate amongst his many readers. His narratives go against the grain of dominant ideologies, offering a scandalous portrayal of France’s social past and present, described in his infamously ambivalent style of écriture blanche. Likewise, through his literary and public presence Houellebecq draws deliberate parallels between his characters and his own authorial persona, thereby rendering the distinction between the fictional and non-fictional contexts of these works decidedly problematic.
Through discussion and debate, we are seeking to explore the notion of transgression not only as the process of crossing social and generic boundaries, but also as a means to assume and overcome the constraints placed upon contemporary literary works. Rather than assigning him to a given artistic, cultural or political viewpoint, we want to ask what we can learn from Houellebecq’s transgressions.