A Man in Search of Family: Kinship and Decline in Michel Houellebecq’s Submission

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This article examines the role of family in Michel Houellebecq’s Submission. It argues that homodiegetic narration and analepsis are ways for the French author to convey the political shifts protagonist François confronts as a tumultuous election sees the rise of a new, nonsecular government. These narrative devices underscore François’s yearning for kinship amid Western decline. Ultimately, the article shows the inextricable interrelations of the macro (political) and the micro (domestic) spheres.