''The Map and the Territory'' (french: La carte et le territoire, ) is a novel by French author

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1956 or 1958) is a French author, known for his novels, poems and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer ...

. The narrative revolves around a successful artist, and involves a fictional murder of Houellebecq. It was published on 4 September 2010 by

Flammarion Flammarion may refer to: * Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), French astronomer and author * Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion (1877–1962), French astronomer, wife of Camille Flammarion * Flammarion engraving by unknown artist; appeared in a book by C ...

and received the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

, the most prestigious French literary prize, in 2010. The title is a reference to the

map–territory relation The map–territory relation is the relationship between an object and a representation of that object, as in the relation between a geographical territory and a map of it. Polish-American scientist and philosopher Alfred Korzybski remarked that ...

. ''The Map and the Territory'' is Michel Houellebecq's fifth novel. It was published five years after his prior novel, ''

The Possibility of an Island ''The Possibility of an Island'' (french: La Possibilité d'une île) is a 2005 novel by French novelist Michel Houellebecq, set within a cloning cult that resembles the real-world Raëlians.Worton, Michael ''A dog's life (poodles excepted)'' in ...

''. ''The Map and the Territory'' was among the most eagerly awaited and discussed novels of the 2010 literary season in France. The first printing was for copies, as announced by the publisher. An English translation by Gavin Bowd was published in January 2012. ''The Map and the Territory'' received the

on 8 November 2010 on the first ballot with seven votes against two for ''Apocalypse bébé'' by

Virginie Despentes Virginie Despentes (; born 13 June 1969) is a French writer, novelist, and filmmaker. She is known for her work exploring gender, sexuality, and people who live in poverty or other marginalised conditions. Work Despentes' work is an inventory of ...

Synopsis

The novel tells the story of the life and art of Jed Martin, a fictional French artist who becomes famous by photographing Michelin maps and painting scenes about professional activities. His father is slowly entering old age. Jed falls for a beautiful Russian executive from Michelin but the relationship ends when she returns to Russia. Jed becomes extraordinarily successful after a new series of paintings and therefore suddenly rich as the most prominent artist in France around the year 2010. He meets Michel Houellebecq in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in order to ask him to write the text for the catalog of one of his exhibitions, and in exchange offers to paint the writer's portrait. A few months later Houellebecq is brutally murdered and Jed Martin gets involved in the case.

Themes

In a televised interview given after the Goncourt award, Houellebecq declared that the main themes of the novel were "aging, the relationship between father and son and the representation of reality through art". As a tongue-in-cheek gimmick, the novel also portrays a few celebrities from French literature and the French media, including Houellebecq himself,

Frédéric Beigbeder Frédéric Beigbeder (; born 21 September 1965) is a French writer, literary critic and television presenter. He won the Prix Interallié in 2003 for his novel ''Windows on the World'' and the Prix Renaudot in 2009 for his book ''Un roman françai ...

Julien Lepers Julien Lepers (; whose real name is Ronan Gerval Lepers) is a French television and radio presenter, and a singer-songwriter, born on in Paris. Biography Early life Son of the conductor Raymond Lepers and the singer Maria Rémusat, and ...

, and

Jean-Pierre Pernaut Jean-Pierre Pernaut (; 8 April 1950 – 2 March 2022) was a French news presenter and broadcaster. He was widely known simply by his initials, JPP. Biography Pernaut was born in Amiens, Somme, on 8 April 1950. The regular presenter of station ...

Accusations of plagiarism

The novel incorporates a few abstracts from the French edition of the online encyclopedia

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...

without mentioning the source, thus not complying with the

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

licence BY-SA. Flammarion, his publisher, has clarified the issue and noted that Houellebecq often uses existing texts from available documentation and web sites as raw literary material for his novels; for instance, the description of a police officer is taken from the official web site of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

and the text of a touristic leaflet is used for the humorous description of the ''Carpe Diem'' hotel.

Reaction after Goncourt award

Houellebecq had already been a contender for the Goncourt on two previous occasions. It was the first time since 1980 that the award had gone to a novel published by Flammarion. Houellebecq commented right after the award that "it is a strange feeling, but I am deeply happy" (''C'est une sensation bizarre mais je suis profondément heureux'').

Editions

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References