Ataraxia in Georges Perec and Michel Houellebecq

The dialogical, polyphonic logic of literary writing is anchored and harmonized around a constant in Georges Perec’s and Michel Houellebecq’s novels, Les choses, une histoire des années soixante and La carte et le territoire , respectively, in which ataraxia appears as a major given. In these authors, ataraxia refers to the tranquility of soul and spirit that the characters have sought in their pursuit of happiness. The fact remains, however, that dialogical logic highlights the artistic expression of a certain disposition, on the part of both the authors and the reader-spectator. When they seek to enlighten opinion through the prism of ataraxia in the novels studied, the authors, through the referentiality to the real world inherent in this practice, help to insert a polyphonic intertextuality into the literary process.