Without God Michel Houellebecq and materialist horror

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"Addresses the religious, metaphysical, and existential dimensions of French novelist Michel Houellebecq's work. Argues that Houellebecq is the foremost contemporary chronicler of the spiritual anxieties of Western and specifically French modernity"--Provided by publisher;Introduction : the Houellebecquian worldview -- Materialism and secularism -- The future of religion -- Religion and utopia -- Materialist horror -- Liberalism is God and the West is its prophet CONTENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTSINTRODUCTION: THE HOUELLEBECQUIAN WORLDVIEWMaterialist Horror and the Question of CapitalismChapter SummariesHouellebecq as Character: A Brief ConsiderationCHAPTER ONE: MATERIALISM AND SECULARISMHouellebecquian Materialism: A Qualified Case?Quantum UncertaintiesLifting the Sacred CanopyMaterialism and Suicide: Logical Consequences of the Death of GodMaterialist Horror and Moral SecularizationCHAPTER TWO: THE FUTURE OF RELIGIONThe Return of ReligionCan a Cloning Cult Be a Religion?Elohimism, Islam, and the Question of Religious DisciplineCHAPTER THREE: RELIGION AND UTOPIAThe Fresh Ruins of FranceAbandoned UtopiasCHAPTER FOUR: MATERIALIST HORRORDangerous CredibilityLovecraft, Pascal, HouellebecqCHAPTER FIVE: LIBERALISM IS GOD AND THE WEST IS ITS PROPHETThe Modern Western Woman: A 200-Year Disaster in the MakingAs Goes France, So Goes FrancoisA Conversion au conditionnelReaction, Romanticism, or Something Else?NOTESWORKS CITEDINDEX