The Orientalized, Americanized, and techno-fantasized female body: non-Western women in Michel Houellebecq’s <i>Plateforme</i> , <i>Soumission</i> , and <i>Sérotonine</i>

Those of Michel Houellebecq’s works that have triggered social and political controversies often depict non-Western women, such as Thai, Muslim, and Japanese women, in relation to Caucasian male characters who express their dissatisfaction with Western women who represent sexual and social emancipation. Houellebecq’s strategy to employ non-Western women reflects Orientalism, which projects male fantasies on “otherness.” However, this dichotomy between the West and the Orient is untenable given the globalization of American culture, depicted in Houellebecq’s novels as hedonistic. Analyzing the depictions of non-Western women in Houellebecq’s Plateforme (2001), Soumission (2015), and Sérotonine (2019), and their relationship to capitalistic commodities, visual media, and contemporary technologies, this essay will delve into how Houellebecq’s Caucasian, French male characters sexualize non-Western women in varying ways based on their ethnicity.