Bruno Le Maire seems to know the secrets of the gods of literature.
In front of an audience of industrialists invited to Bercy, the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery of the Castex government revealed that the next novel by his writer friend, Michel Houellebecq (Goncourt 2010 for
La Carte et le Territoire
)
,
should have as its main subject an idea of the defense of French industry.
To read also Michel Houellebecq: "
A civilization which legalizes euthanasia loses all right to respect
"
The politician who does not hide the friendship he has for the great writer did not hesitate to declare to business leaders meeting in Bercy during his speech devoted to industrial relocations: “
You know that I am very closely linked with a writer you all know, named Michel Houellebecq.
"
To read also
Asterix and the Griffon
, Michel Houellebecq in the service of César
And to support his point, and to make the link between literature and the economics of industry, Bruno Le Maire immediately added:
"He wrote books (...) which are perhaps the best seismograph of this period. What is French society today, including one called
La Carte et le Territoire
, which presents the French future as an improved Disneyland future, where France would be a tourist territory, welcoming (...) but who would have given up all production capacity.
I don't want to make big revelations.
But I think that Michel Houellebecq's next book will come back to this thesis and defend the industry. ”
Michel Houellebecq, an oracle?
Bruno Le Maire, who is responsible for the country's industrial policy, sometimes makes forays into the universe of the novel or the essay. He has already signed a dozen books including
The Minister
in 2004 or more recently
The Angel and the Beast: Provisional Memories
in 2021. He revealed how he had been made aware of this literary scoop: “
I had the 'opportunity to talk to him about it and I think that's a sign. This is an important sign because Michel Houellebecq is probably the one who best captures the deep currents that drive French society.
"
During this conference, the Minister for Industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, unveiled 58 new industrial relocation projects, bringing to 624 the number of projects of the same type supported by the public authorities since September 2020 (Aigle boots , paracetamol..). The health crisis has indeed revealed the need for sovereignty in certain strategic areas (pharmacy, agrifood, electronic components ...), subcontracted to low-cost countries, the phenomenon described in hollow by Michel Houellebecq in his novels.
After
Serotonin
in 2019, Goncourt 2010 published in 2020 a collection of essays,
Interventions 2020
. According to many rumors, relayed in particular by our colleague
Paris-Match
, Michel Houellebecq's next novel should be released in 2022. We will then know how he sees the future of French industry ...