A neighbour is a wolf to another neighbour. The motif of vicinity in Michel Houellebecq’s prose

Abstract

Otherness, alienation, the requirement to establish a neighbourly relationship with everything that is not mine – these are the main themes of Michel Houellebecq’s novel. The main character invented by the French writer is a nihilist who cannot relate to anything, not even to himself, and every contact with otherness arouses his fear, opposition and aggression. The unpleasant and unbearable proximity of others, however, allows him to define himself: in Submission he defines himself in opposition to the Muslim tradition, in Serotonin he despises the Dutch and his own Asian fiancée, in Aneantir he fights as a carnivore over the ingredients in the household fridge. His environs intensify his sense of loneliness, and observing other cultures, nations, traditions and habits leads to one bitter reflection – I don’t belong anywhere, therefore I am completely alone. What kind of neighbour can a total misanthrope be? And why did Houellebecq, in an age of openness, tolerance, praise of beauty and self-perfection, choose this particular kind of self-creation?