Гуманитарный вектор (Jul 2020)
The Culture of “New” Europe in the Work of M. Houellebecq: A Deserted House?
Abstract
The relevance of studying the value transformations of modern Europe is closely related to the conceptualization of the notions, representing the dynamic of change. They include the concept of the so-called “European house” based on the presumed cultural integrity of European countries. The material of the study was the body of works by the famous French writer Michel Houellebecq, whose works reveal the contradictions of the nature of sociocultural identity of the modern European. The novelty of the research is to identify the specific features of common perception of house as a meaningful cultural symbol. The research methodology is a culturological analysis that combines the principles of axiological and anthropological approaches with hermeneutics. Common European values are the result of a long evolution of society and social identity, a gradual change in the social and political forms of organization of its life. An important component of this process is not only rational understanding but also personal experience of ongoing sociocultural “shifts” and mutations. A vivid example that captures such experience can be found in the works of writers who have addressed the topic of European identity. M. Houellebecq has a special place among them since his creative expressions, unflattering and provoking, create publicity that can be compared only to Houellebeqc’s popularity. In the picture of the world created by Houellebeqc, Europe is depicted through the metaphor of the house. Its connotations are symbolic in themselves: void (the house is too big and empty), isolated (remote), deserted (inhabited by strangers) and abandoned (constantly in need of repair). The topic of European bureaucracy symbolically revealed through a lifeless metropolis struggling with a dying countryside (that thus proves that it is alive) deserves special attention.
Keywords
