“In an age of ubiquitous scientific polling and surveying, of commentary and opinion, it is curious that perhaps the most powerful and accurate examination of the forces behind the modern populist groundswell should come from a French novelist.
Not fitting any predetermined labels, but preternaturally prescient in his social criticism, he has been called both a prophet and a populist.
It is this kind of discontent and resentment, so well articulated by Houellebecq, that is lurking beneath the surface of populism. Indeed, Houellebecq’s work has been a commercial success in part because of its convincing portrayal of this particular kind of anguish. He is able to articulate the grievances and general feeling of disaffection with modern life that are arguably responsible for a political movement.
Indeed, the intense pessimism of Houellebecq’s novels often leads one to wonder whether Houellebecq is merely a critic of modern society or, like his idol Schopenhauer, of life in general.
Competition and inequality are also more visible today. A disadvantaged young person, or a loveless computer technician, such as in Houellebecq’s novel Whatever, need only log on to Instagram to be bombarded with images of the natural inequality of life. The pace of competition and the need to show off what one has to keep up with others also incentivises the privileged to be even more shameless and ostentatious in displaying their advantages.
On the other hand, the often overwrought condemnation of modern life in Houellebecq’s novels illustrates the danger of acquiescing to the demands of populism; it is easy to imagine how populism fuelled by resentment could lead to all the wrong kinds of reform.”
https://quillette.com/2019/09/19/michel-houellebecq-populisms-prophet/
