Othering and Selfing: Reading Gender Hierarchies and Social Categories in Michel Houellebecq's Novel Soumission
In literature, questions of the self and the other are frequently presented. The identity politics that gained prominence after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September 2001 has occupied considerable space in this debate throughout the globe, including in France. One example...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universitas Gadjah Mada
2018-02-01
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| Series: | Humaniora |
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| Online Access: | https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/jurnal-humaniora/article/view/32122 |
| _version_ | 1818357642371792896 |
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| author | Wening Udasmoro |
| author_facet | Wening Udasmoro |
| author_sort | Wening Udasmoro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In literature, questions of the self and the other are frequently presented. The identity politics that gained prominence after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September 2001 has occupied considerable space in this debate throughout the globe, including in France. One example of a novel dealing with the self and other is Michel Houellebecq’s Soumission (2015). This article attempts to explore the processes of selfing and othering in this work. The politics of identity that seems to present Muslims and Islam as the other and French as the self is also extended to other identities and aspects involved in the novel. This article attempts to show, first, how the French author Houellebecq positions the self and other in Soumission; second, the type of self and other the novel focuses on; and third, how its selfing and othering processes reveal the gender hierarchy and social categorization of French society. It finds that the novel presents a hierarchy in its narrative through which characters are positioned based on their gender and sexual orientation, as well as their age and ethnic heritage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T20:16:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0fd268a76ec84f54afad5976d36a2611 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0852-0801 2302-9269 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T20:16:21Z |
| publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
| publisher | Universitas Gadjah Mada |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humaniora |
| spelling | doaj.art-0fd268a76ec84f54afad5976d36a26112022-12-21T23:32:48ZengUniversitas Gadjah MadaHumaniora0852-08012302-92692018-02-013011910.22146/jh.v30i1.3212220341Othering and Selfing: Reading Gender Hierarchies and Social Categories in Michel Houellebecq's Novel SoumissionWening Udasmoro0Faculty of Cultural Science, Universitas Gadjah MadaIn literature, questions of the self and the other are frequently presented. The identity politics that gained prominence after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September 2001 has occupied considerable space in this debate throughout the globe, including in France. One example of a novel dealing with the self and other is Michel Houellebecq’s Soumission (2015). This article attempts to explore the processes of selfing and othering in this work. The politics of identity that seems to present Muslims and Islam as the other and French as the self is also extended to other identities and aspects involved in the novel. This article attempts to show, first, how the French author Houellebecq positions the self and other in Soumission; second, the type of self and other the novel focuses on; and third, how its selfing and othering processes reveal the gender hierarchy and social categorization of French society. It finds that the novel presents a hierarchy in its narrative through which characters are positioned based on their gender and sexual orientation, as well as their age and ethnic heritage.https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/jurnal-humaniora/article/view/32122GenderSocial CategoriesIslamSoumissionHouellebecq |
| spellingShingle | Wening Udasmoro Othering and Selfing: Reading Gender Hierarchies and Social Categories in Michel Houellebecq's Novel Soumission Humaniora Gender Social Categories Islam Soumission Houellebecq |
| title | Othering and Selfing: Reading Gender Hierarchies and Social Categories in Michel Houellebecq's Novel Soumission |
| title_full | Othering and Selfing: Reading Gender Hierarchies and Social Categories in Michel Houellebecq's Novel Soumission |
| title_fullStr | Othering and Selfing: Reading Gender Hierarchies and Social Categories in Michel Houellebecq's Novel Soumission |
| title_full_unstemmed | Othering and Selfing: Reading Gender Hierarchies and Social Categories in Michel Houellebecq's Novel Soumission |
| title_short | Othering and Selfing: Reading Gender Hierarchies and Social Categories in Michel Houellebecq's Novel Soumission |
| title_sort | othering and selfing reading gender hierarchies and social categories in michel houellebecq s novel soumission |
| topic | Gender Social Categories Islam Soumission Houellebecq |
| url | https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/jurnal-humaniora/article/view/32122 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT weningudasmoro otheringandselfingreadinggenderhierarchiesandsocialcategoriesinmichelhouellebecqsnovelsoumission |