Houellebecq on 'Submission': Islam, Europe, and the Novel's Genesis

In a December 17, 2014 interview with Jacques Henric and Catherine Millet for artpress, Michel Houellebecq discusses his forthcoming novel 'Submission' (Flammarion, January 7, 2015). The interview, published early online ahead of the February issue, reveals an unexpected Houellebecq—more novelist than polemicist. The book follows a Huysmans scholar as Western democracies falter and a consensual Islam regenerates Europe. Houellebecq explains the novel's evolution from an initial plan about Catholic conversion (titled 'La Conversion') to its Islamic turn, a shift he calls mysterious. He discusses the distributivism of Chesterton and Belloc, his advocacy for direct democracy (president for life revocable by referendum, abolition of parliament), and his rejection of the term 'democracy' for current systems. He denies the novel reflects his own political views, calling his predictions unlikely. He explores themes of metaphysical suffering without God, the appeal of religion, and the demographic strength of patriarchal values. He critiques Islam for lacking a spiritual hierarchy like the Catholic Church's, which he argues could eradicate jihadism. The interview also touches on sexual politics, the character's ambiguous final line ('I would have nothing to regret'), and Houellebecq's own need for cosmic order.