Author Michel Houellebecq. Photo / Mariusz Kubik, Wikipedia
Author Michel Houellebecq. Photo / Mariusz Kubik, Wikipedia
Controversy has followed Michel Houellebecq's novel Submission since it was published in France on the same day as the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks earlier this year. Now available in English translation, it tells the story of the effects on French society of a general election in 2022 where the Muslim Brotherhood holds the balance of power.
Set mostly in Paris, the book details the initial skirmishes and violent attacks that take place on the capital's historic streets. Passages in which the confused population tries to make sense of the violent events, seem all to believable in the wake of the recent terror attacks.
Just then we heard a new sound of gunfire, this time quite distinct, as if nearby, and a much louder explosion. All the guests turned towards the sound. A column of smoke was rising into the sky above the buildings.
The narrator of the story, Francois, is an unmarried Parisian academic and specialist in late 19th literature - particularly the work of JK Huysmans who wrote several books on the subject of religious conversion.
Francois himself does not seem especially religious, but senses that the weariness French society seems to feel regarding immigration and social cohesion - embracing an attitude of 'whatever happens will happen' - is dangerous.
History is full of such blindness; we see it among the intellectuals, politicians and journalists of the 1930s, all of whom were convinced that Hitler would 'come to reason.'
Francois, however, is not a man of action. He is never part of the violence, and when it occurs he moves swiftly to safely. And regardless of his disdain for the apathetic, neither is he a man who believes he can have any kind of effect on the outcome of events, preferring to view them on television from the comfort of his flat with a microwave dinner and a bottle of wine. He seems far more concerned with his academic legacy, his financial stability, and his sexual proclivities than the challenge presented to France's traditional governmental secularism.
However, as an academic and university lecturer, it is his profession that is under the most pressure to submit to the new Muslim guidelines, as one of the characters explains to him, the Muslim Brotherhood is not overly concerned with matters of the economy or security: What they care about is birth rate and education. To them it's simple - whichever segment of the population has the highest birth rate, and does the best job of transmitting its values, wins. If you control the children, you control the future.
Author Michel Houellebecq. Photo / Mariusz Kubik, Wikipedia
Changes imposed on the French education system include the conversion of all teachers to the Muslim faith, no co-ed schools, and women should only be allowed to study certain subjects. Above all, lessons should reflect the teachings of the Koran.
So the battles that take place within this novel, are not ones with guns and bombs, but within one narcissistic misogynist's conscience. Francois is an observer and not a particular focussed one at that. He is easily distracted - especially by good food and wine, philosophical musings and - most of all - attractive young women. It is, after all, a Michel Houellebecq novel.
This is unfortunately the main failing of Submission as a novel. While the premise is an interesting one, the narrator and central character seems only partially engaged in addressing the conflicts it creates. He dislikes the apathy that pervades society, and yet exhibits exactly the same behaviour himself.
Readers wanting a novel that examines some of the intricacies of French tertiary hierarchies will find a lot enjoy. Readers wanting an examination of modern societal conflicts caused by France's growing Muslim population should probably look elsewhere.
