SEROTONINE » DE MICHEL HOUELLEBEC, ENTRE LE SILENCE ET LE TOUT DIRE

The speech that is reticent to stay quiet, to say half of things or to say them in a deviated way, has a particular form in Houellebecq’s writings since it has a psychological motivation: as he hates his first name, the main character, whilst narrating his story, has to live between the desire to keep his name secret and the obligation to say it. Between silence and speech, one can see his attempts to affirm his individuality, and the way these attempts come up against the world’s uncontrollable mutations. Through an analysis of the symbolic value of his journey, I want to prove that the writer actually stages his reticence, choosing love as the best transferential and configurational setup to illustrate the speech’s restraint in contemporary society.