Since the colonial era, Islamophobia has pervaded all layers of French civilization. Far from being an occasional phenomenon of marginal significance, Islamophobia must be seen as a system of governance stifling expressions of Muslimness, based on a belief system securitizing Muslims. As a researcher focusing on Islamophobia in France and as an aspiring novelist, I organically came to be interested in the ways artistic production – more specifically literature – could influence Islamophobic cultural narratives and Islamophobic policies. How could literature shape the Islamophobic belief system pivotal to the establishment and continuous growth of an Islamophobic governance?

This newly found interest led me to question the very nature of art, its underlying mechanisms and its potential projections. It led me to analyse the narratives of the most famous contemporary French author: Michel Houellebecq.

On the potentialities of art

Allama Iqbal – the influential Muslim poet of the 20th century – outlined two fundamental attributes of art, explaining its nature and potentialities. His literary and philosophical authority, stemming from his correct understanding of the world, are widely acknowledged.

“’Tis the brand of desire makes the blood of man run warm, (…)

Beauty is the creator of desire’s springtide,

Desire is nourished by the display of Beauty. (…)

Caravans march at the sound of his (the poet) bell

And follow the voice of his pipe;”

“Nations are born in the hearts of poets”

According to Iqbal, art has the ability to inspire our will, to “warm man’s blood” that will naturally lead to action: “caravans” start to march, following the philosophical lead of the poet. In other words, artistic production can influence entire nations, shaping their identity and destiny. These two fundamental ideas are based on a cogent foundation that must be unveiled.

To influence the will of his readership, the artist must connect with their emotions. To quote Friedrich Nietzsche on the renowned Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky:

“Dostoyevsky, the only psychologist, by the way, from whom I had something to learn”.

The German writer points out to the indispensable knowledge art is based on: psychology.

 As Iqbal wrote about Shakespeare:

“The beauty of your (Shakespeare’s) speech mirrors the heart of man.”

Indeed, the audience must recognise a human-like psychology in the artistic production it is exposed to. Empathy – the ability to recognise and share the emotions of another being – is the sine qua non condition for influence, for “desire”, as it allows the audience to emotionally engage with the artistic creation. Influence is rendered possible by the artist’s ability to propose psychological narratives that any human being can recognise. Influence cannot be achieved without the production of an empathetic link which functions as the emotional thread that the artist uses to share his own convictions. Through the emotional route the artist built by means of his psychological mastery, he or she can now suggest the trustworthiness of his own worldview, of his own “synthesis of life”, of his own din. Because he or she is able to produce realistic narratives the audience deeply engages with, the belief system proposed – whether it is implied or more explicitly expressed – acquires the varnish of authenticity.

In other words, the skilled artist has the power to alter his audience’s perception of reality. He can persuade them of the veracity of his own beliefs. If successful, he could even inspire the inception of a new world. James Baldwin summarised this reasoning in a famous interview he gave to the New York Times in 1979:

“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. (…) The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way a person looks or people look at reality, then you can change it.” (emphasis added)

A few questions logically arise as a consequence. What kind of belief system will the author suggest? What kind of world does the author want to give birth to? Certainly, knowledge of psychology can be mastered by anyone. The creation of an emotional thread is a mere technique at the disposal of anyone – whatever the beliefs and intentions of the artist. If an authentic perception of reality can be shared by a truthful author, a corrupted perception could also very well be offered by a deceitful author and acquired by a misled audience.

Houellebecq’s “effective hostility” towards Islâm and Muslims

Houellebecq’s worldview is based on two pillars: nihilism and decadence. His characters all undergo a journey that fails to identify a meaning and purpose to their existence. Houellebecq presents himself as the author of “a nihilistic era and the suffering that goes along with nihilism”. The empathetic link the French author manufactures is this one: his audience, generations of nihilistic Westerners, are able to recognise the fears and anxieties they have endured in their lives in the nihilistic narrations crafted by Houellebecq.

The sentiment of decadence is directly inspired by one of Houellebecq’s favourite authors: sci-fi novelist H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft shared his racist vision of the white civilization’s decadence and ultimate overthrow at the hands of violent and ignorant slave beings in his most famous work, At the Mountains of Madness (1931). As evident by Houellebecq’s biography of Lovecraft published in 1991^[1] – which is to be read as a philosophical manifesto Houellebecq adheres to – Lovecraft was able to nurture a sentiment of “effective hostility” towards a decadent world he rejected. This sentiment expresses the idea that one, knowing that downfall is ineluctable, must however engage in an effective effort to delay it by encouraging a feeling of hostility towards those responsible for it. This political endeavour, inspired by artistic production, is labelled by the French author as the correct form of “conservatism”^[2].

Houellebecq fully engaged in this enterprise in the last two decades, once he identified/presented Islam and Muslims as the main factors fostering the West’s downfall. In his novel Platform (2001), the main character’s love interest loses her life in a Muslim-led attack^[3]. Submission (2015) narrates the peaceful political takeover of France by a Muslim party^[4]. In a now famous interview, he declared that Islam was a “dangerous religion, and has been from the moment it appeared.”^[5] He labelled Algerian Muslim freedom fighters during the War of Independence “terrorists”^[6], and often advocates for Islamophobic violence and white supremacy’s expansion:

“What we can already see is that people are arming themselves. There will be acts of resistance, reverse Bataclan, attacks aimed at mosques as well as cafés popular with Muslims”^[7]

“Our only chance of survival is for white supremacy to become trendy in the US.”^[8]

Houellebecq’s Islamophobic pattern, inspired by Lovecraft’s vision, is easily identified: Muslims are essentialised as inherently violent or astute conquerors, mortal civilisational threats to white supremacy. The author’s answers to protect Whiteness is clear: stoking Islamophobic hostility – including violence – and white supremacy.

Proven effectivity: prophetic reputation and success

Unfortunately, Houellebecq acquired a prophetic reputation that cemented his success. Platform was published a few days prior to 9/11 and has been regarded since as a brilliant literary and political premonition. Submission was published the very day Charlie Hebdo was targeted by Al-Qaeda. In a feeble literary field, he is one of the few authors able to sell millions of copies in the entire world. His reach includes the French political sphere: admired by former President Nicolas Sarkozy, close friend of the current Minister of the Economy Bruno le Maire, he was awarded the Legion of Honor by Emmanuel Macron in 2019.

Through its most prominent representatives, the French State delivered him the institutional garment of accuracy and legitimacy. His works helped legitimise Islamophobia and were pivotal in creating a hegemonic Islamophobic culture that regards Muslims as dangerous security threats. They spurred the State to enhance its Islamophobic governance. A governance so draconian that it bans hijab in public schools, niqab from public square, investigates 28000 Muslim establishments, forcefully closes down 906 of those, and seizes 55 million euros from the Muslim community. Yet, none of those laws or policies are currently being challenged by any French political party – far left included.

If Houellebecq cannot be regarded as the only enabler of Islamophobia in France, his narratives functioned as a strong catalyst. He remains a deceitful poet with a corrupted perception of the world, who exerted his literary talents to marginalise and oppress Muslims.