Le sperme et le manque. L‘utilité de l‘abject dans la prose de Michel Houellebecq

Abstract

This article raises the problem of the abject in Michel Houellebecq‘s prose, as regards Polish and French scholarly reactions. We will endeavour to answer two main questions: why is Houellebecq‘s prose considered as repulsive? Can the category of abject be useful for a writer, and if so, how? We distinguish and analyze four levels at which one can experience disgust while reading Houellebecq‘s prose: the linguistic layer of the novels, the characters‘ behaviour, the world created by the writer, and, finally, Houellebecq‘s way of being in the public sphere. Our perspective is sociological and anthropological. We primarily look at the cultural framework in which Houellebecq‘s works, the literary criticism, the writer‘s voice and also the reader all function together.