The Vertigos of Coining: 'Michel Houellebecq', Or, What Names Remain(s)?
Writing remains. One could argue that it is precisely because of this uncanny and unpredictable survival that inscription holds an inextricable influence on culture. Deconstructive theory posits this as the 'biodegradability' of writing — that culture consumes writing's intended meaning, employing i...
| Published in: | Paragraph Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 141 - 157 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Edinburgh University Press
Jul2021
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=150406145&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 150406145 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02648334 C0N jtl: Paragraph issn: 02648334 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2021 vid: 44 iid: 2 pid: 2327 pub: Edinburgh University Press artinfo: ui: 150406145 10.3366/para.2021.0362 ppf: 141 ppct: 16 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 98KB tig: atl: The Vertigos of Coining: 'Michel Houellebecq', Or, What Names Remain(s)? aug: au: Dutton, James su: Houellebecq, Michel, 1958- Fiction writing French authors French drama Biodegradation sug: subj: Houellebecq, Michel, 1958- Fiction writing French authors French drama Biodegradation keyword: biodegradability extinction inscription Michel Houellebecq naming ab: Writing remains. One could argue that it is precisely because of this uncanny and unpredictable survival that inscription holds an inextricable influence on culture. Deconstructive theory posits this as the 'biodegradability' of writing — that culture consumes writing's intended meaning, employing it as fuel for its own survival. In this article, I argue for Michel Houellebecq's awareness of this survival, suggesting that his texts stage their — and their author's — own biodegradability to interweave truth and fiction. Particularly, he utilizes the 'untranslatability' of the proper name — its brief resistance to cultural biodegradability — to intercept and write into the future(s) inscription is tied to. This draws attention to the vital paradox of proper names, and suggests that their untranslatability forces every reader to conjure different, contradicting and often 'out-of-sync' histories. Houellebecq's names, which necessitate an interminable coining, gesture to the inevitable (re)translation of finitude. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Paragraph is the property of Edinburgh University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Paragraph holder: Edinburgh University Press dt: @attributes: year: 2021 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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