The release of a book by author Michel Houellebecq exploring a Muslim-run France causes controversy as critics call it an 'Islamophobic scare story'
ADVERTISEMENTCelebrated French author, Michel Houellebecq has refuted allegations that his new novel is an Islamophobic scare story.
‘==‘Submission’ == which is published today ( Jan.7) tells of the 2022 French presidential election which is won by a Muslim and is followed by an erosion of personal and religious freedoms and the wearing of the veil .
Critics say the book which includes Front National leader Marine Le Pen losing the presidency to the Muslim rival is fuel for her party’s far-right policies and is a Christmas gift for her.
“She does not need that,” said Houellebecq.
“Everything is going relatively well for her at the moment. I do not think that the book will change her destiny. I do not see any examples where novels (fiction) have changed History. Other things change History like essays or the Manifesto of the Communist Party, things like that, but not novels.”
Houellebecq calls his book ‘a realistic vision for a possible future’, but its release comes less than three months before French regional elections which have already been dominated by debates over immigration.