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talkpolitics2015-01-08 03:59 pm
airiefairie.livejournal.com) wrote in talkpolitics2015-01-08 03:59 pm
The Islamic republic of... France?
Could a piece of fiction cause a hatred so strong that would lead to mass killings? The bloody attack in Paris leaving scores of dead innocents will probably add even more dramatism to the vision of one Michel Houellebecq of France as a possible future Islamic republic...
The attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that became infamous for its critical positions against Islam and the Muhammad cartoons from previous years (and whose latest cover was directly inspired by Houellebecq's writings), could also have a connection to Houellebecq's new book, where he describes a fictitious scenario of the Islamisation of France.
France, the year 2022. The crescent shines over Paris, and the green flag of Islam floats atop the Elysee Palace. France has just elected its first Muslim president, Mohammed ben Abbes. The new head of state decides to abolish the secular republic, and build an Islamic theocratic state, where polygamy is legalised, and men have all the power. Women are required to wear burqas and have no right to work or study, the Sorbonne is turned into an Islamic university, all professors there being obliged to accept Islam.
Just a fictional story or a peek into the future? The author seems to genuinely believe that such a far-fetched scenario is actually possible, even if it does not happen so soon as his book claims.
Some years ago, the world-famous writer got the high French literary award Goncourt, and the critics have never stopped calling him a highly controversial, even scandalous author ever since. His brand new book Submission only comes to confirm that. It bears an explosive message, which sounds as if it is taken directly from the rhetoric of the far-right Front National, which is now being echoed in Germany as well: "the West is threatened with Islamisation".
The French League against Racism and Anti-Semitism has warned that Houellebecq is playing with people's collective fears. They have called his books "the greatest present that Marine Le Pen could have received". What they mean is the political intrigue in the book: in order to stop FN and Le Pen from taking over the country, the mainstream leftist and centre-right parties collude to deny her the presidency in favour of the Muslim candidate, thus taking the responsibility for what happens afterwards. His critics believe that Houellebecq is settling scores with real French politicians and an entire political caste which in his view has failed to unite society.
French president Francois Hollande has distanced himself from Houellebecq. He believes his books are not some sort of literature bravery, but merely a regurgitation of old populist cliches. Because there have always been people who have praised the decadent and retrograde, and have dwelt in a permanent sense of hopeless pessimism. Houellebecq himself denies the accusation that he is aiming to fuel people's prejudices. The bad boy of French literature does not seem to believe that he merely plays the role of a professional provocateur. He is convinced that Marine Le Pen would not draw any benefits from his books, since she has been doing quite well in recent times, anyway.
Houellebecq's book, as well as in previous cases, has caused very polarised reactions. Some of the critics call it daring, funny, even a sarcastic satire of today's French society. Others call it an Islamophobic lampoon, solely designed to advocate the ideas of the far-right. The philosopher Malek Chebel says that Houellebecq uses his talent to fuel the fears of Islam, and exactly because he is a great writer, he should have more responsibility in that respect.
His books will probably affect the way the French people perceive the Islamic community in their country, along with yesterday's dreadful attack of course. There is a sense among the Muslim community that they are being branded and stigmatised, and used as a scapegoat for all of France's troubles. The economic crisis could naturally cause a crisis of values, even a moral crisis. And some demagogues in politics would be sure to enjoy taking benefit of this in order to sow fear and have political gains as a result. Unfortunately, Houellebecq's books tend to ultimately drive the point in the same direction.
Whether Submission is a painful call against Islam, or merely a social and political snapshot of the French society, Houellebecq himself will not tell. The protagonist in his latest book, a man called Francois, also finds it hard to define himself. He acknowledges that Islam has had both an attractive and repulsive effect on him, which can be quite confusing for the reader as well. This relativism affects both the character and the author, who has said that he neither supports nor rejects his protagonist, but would rather allow the reader to decide for themselves. Let us hope that he will not be massacred by some extremist lunatic in response to his writings, because these are points to be made and openly discussed, as opposed to being tackled with machine-guns and/or self-censorship.
Update: The much dreaded exchange of violence may have already begun.
The attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that became infamous for its critical positions against Islam and the Muhammad cartoons from previous years (and whose latest cover was directly inspired by Houellebecq's writings), could also have a connection to Houellebecq's new book, where he describes a fictitious scenario of the Islamisation of France.
France, the year 2022. The crescent shines over Paris, and the green flag of Islam floats atop the Elysee Palace. France has just elected its first Muslim president, Mohammed ben Abbes. The new head of state decides to abolish the secular republic, and build an Islamic theocratic state, where polygamy is legalised, and men have all the power. Women are required to wear burqas and have no right to work or study, the Sorbonne is turned into an Islamic university, all professors there being obliged to accept Islam.
Just a fictional story or a peek into the future? The author seems to genuinely believe that such a far-fetched scenario is actually possible, even if it does not happen so soon as his book claims.
Some years ago, the world-famous writer got the high French literary award Goncourt, and the critics have never stopped calling him a highly controversial, even scandalous author ever since. His brand new book Submission only comes to confirm that. It bears an explosive message, which sounds as if it is taken directly from the rhetoric of the far-right Front National, which is now being echoed in Germany as well: "the West is threatened with Islamisation".
The French League against Racism and Anti-Semitism has warned that Houellebecq is playing with people's collective fears. They have called his books "the greatest present that Marine Le Pen could have received". What they mean is the political intrigue in the book: in order to stop FN and Le Pen from taking over the country, the mainstream leftist and centre-right parties collude to deny her the presidency in favour of the Muslim candidate, thus taking the responsibility for what happens afterwards. His critics believe that Houellebecq is settling scores with real French politicians and an entire political caste which in his view has failed to unite society.
French president Francois Hollande has distanced himself from Houellebecq. He believes his books are not some sort of literature bravery, but merely a regurgitation of old populist cliches. Because there have always been people who have praised the decadent and retrograde, and have dwelt in a permanent sense of hopeless pessimism. Houellebecq himself denies the accusation that he is aiming to fuel people's prejudices. The bad boy of French literature does not seem to believe that he merely plays the role of a professional provocateur. He is convinced that Marine Le Pen would not draw any benefits from his books, since she has been doing quite well in recent times, anyway.
Houellebecq's book, as well as in previous cases, has caused very polarised reactions. Some of the critics call it daring, funny, even a sarcastic satire of today's French society. Others call it an Islamophobic lampoon, solely designed to advocate the ideas of the far-right. The philosopher Malek Chebel says that Houellebecq uses his talent to fuel the fears of Islam, and exactly because he is a great writer, he should have more responsibility in that respect.
His books will probably affect the way the French people perceive the Islamic community in their country, along with yesterday's dreadful attack of course. There is a sense among the Muslim community that they are being branded and stigmatised, and used as a scapegoat for all of France's troubles. The economic crisis could naturally cause a crisis of values, even a moral crisis. And some demagogues in politics would be sure to enjoy taking benefit of this in order to sow fear and have political gains as a result. Unfortunately, Houellebecq's books tend to ultimately drive the point in the same direction.
Whether Submission is a painful call against Islam, or merely a social and political snapshot of the French society, Houellebecq himself will not tell. The protagonist in his latest book, a man called Francois, also finds it hard to define himself. He acknowledges that Islam has had both an attractive and repulsive effect on him, which can be quite confusing for the reader as well. This relativism affects both the character and the author, who has said that he neither supports nor rejects his protagonist, but would rather allow the reader to decide for themselves. Let us hope that he will not be massacred by some extremist lunatic in response to his writings, because these are points to be made and openly discussed, as opposed to being tackled with machine-guns and/or self-censorship.
Update: The much dreaded exchange of violence may have already begun.
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The problem with those "limits" are that everyone has different ones. Where do you put them? Personally, I think the Charlie Hebdo magazine was skirting the line. But if so, then take the whole thing and bring it to a neutral panel - aka sueing.
And hey, in the last then years the magazine had 3 Islam critical covers and a lot more Catholic critical covers. The Catholic Church sued them 13 times.
Quote: “We publish caricatures every week, but people only describe them as declarations of war when it’s about the person of the Prophet or radical Islam,” cartoonist Stéphane Charbonnier, known as Charb.
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> take the whole thing and bring it to a neutral panel - aka sueing
Exactly what I'm saying.
I know the reaction of these extremists says a lot more about their religion than it does about the
trollscartoonists who decided to poke them a little bit, or even about the French society. Doubtless, the onus of proving that their ideology is not inherently violent, is on the Muslims, I have no illusions about that.no subject
I thought so, but I think the way you said it was a bit misunderstood by a few here.
Well, to be fair, an internet troll is often malicious in itself, while those cartoonists often manage to show another angle of a socially highly relevant subject. Not saying that they always to succeed, but they do add something to a discussion. And if it's only that they manage to ignite a discussion.
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Yep, freedom of speech is one of the classic trademarks of a liberal democratic society. We don't have Vatican type censor boards going through books and magazines for a reason. Salman Rushdie is on the same list of targets printed in that glossy Yemen /Al-Queda magazine, for his 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses that had Mr Charbonnie. Mr. Rushie's fatwa has never been "removed," and he unfortunately is a very marked man.
Mr. Rushdie was raised in Iran, and is a forceful speaker against religious intolerance of all stripes, but particularly Islamic fundamentalism. His book was banned from publication in several countries, and it was removed from bookstores in the United States, until there protests in the form of book readings by famous authors defending the right of freedom of exchange of ideas and speech; and by implication, why would we allow a religious cleric in Iran determine what we can and can't read. Book store chains changed their mind and started selling the book.
When Nikos Kazantzakis' controversial 1953 novel was made into a movie in 1988 (staring William Defoe as Jesus of Nazareth), it raised the ire of a lot of Christians in the United States, and there were protests and boycotts, and some theater chain owners refused to carry the film. Or like Monty Python's satire The Life of Brian.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone received death threats because of an April 2010 episode of South Park in which the Prophet Muhammad was depicted in a bear suit, igniting threats from three men who operated a radical Islamic website in the United States. The men were arrested and are serving lengthy prison sentences.
But the irony here, the reason Parker and Stone used a bear suit, was because their parent company, Viacom, absolutely refused to allow them to draw Muhammad, in an episode lampooning the murder of the Danish cartoonist, and their support for Kurt Westergaard, a Danish cartoonist who was the subject of a murder plot in 2008. Or the case of Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who received death threats and was the subject of a number of assassination attempts after a drawing of his was published in the Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda, who had depicted the Prophet Mohammed. In the episode, one of the characters explained the bear suit: "If Mohammed is seen we could get bombed."
This isn't just about France either, although some are trying hard. This has been happening all over in several Western liberal European countries. And even in France, the Washington Post editorial noted today (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/07/why-would-terrorists-kill-cartoonists/): "The attack is horrifying no matter what way you look at it, but it's almost bewildering when you consider the target. The attackers weren't fighting the French state. They weren't killing soldiers and appear to have only incidentally killed policemen. They weren't even attacking a far-right group that pushes an anti-Islam line. Instead, they were targeting satirists and cartoonists, such as the newspaper's editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, and Jean Cabut, better known as Cabu. The terrorists wanted to kill people who make drawings for a living."
-continued-
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Look at the implied threats at theater chains here in the United States if they dared showed The Interview. It worked, at first, but then Sony and theater owners came to their senses, after some pressure from the public, film makers, and even President Obama.
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It's good that today the public does manage and want to pressure companies.
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But he wasn't born in Pakistan either.
"The son of Anis Ahmed Rushdie, a University of Cambridge-educated lawyer turned businessman, and Negin Bhatt, a teacher, Rushdie was born in Bombay, then British India, into a Muslim family of Kashmiri descent." The family emigrated to Pakistan at a later date.
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