''Whatever'' (french: Extension du domaine de la lutte, literally "extension of the domain of struggle") is the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

of French writer

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 ...

, which was published in 1994 in France by Éditions Maurice Nadeau and in 1998 in the UK by

Serpent's Tail Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Books ...

. It primarily highlights the "disaggregating effects of

post-Fordism Post-Fordism is the dominant system of economic production, consumption, and associated socio-economic phenomena in most industrialized countries since the late 20th century. It is contrasted with Fordism, the system formulated in Henry Ford's aut ...

on the intimate spaces of human affect" through the story of a depressed and isolated man stuck in a tedious but well-paying programming job. It was adapted into the 1999 film '' Whatever'', directed by and starring

Philippe Harel Philippe Harel (born 22 December 1956) is a French film director, actor and screenwriter. Selected filmography *'' The Story of a Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed'' (1994) * ''Une visite'' (1996) (Short) * ''Les randonneurs'' (1997) * '' La femme d� ...

Plot

The protagonist, known only as "Our Hero" during the entirety of the story, lives a solitary life, and has not had sex for over two years. Within most of the book and film versions of ''Whatever'', Our Hero draws on recollections of

Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...

and

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemolo ...

to lambast the commodification of human contact, punctuating his inner monologue with bouts of nausea and

masturbation Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinatio ...

. He is wracked by the implications of decisions that would seem minor to the average person, such as disclosing his lack of a sex life through the purchase of a single bed. He is teamed up with a disturbing, unattractive, desperate 28-year-old virgin, Raphael Tisserand, to deliver a series of seminars on the use of IT. Raphael looks up to Our Hero for ever having been able to hold down a relationship, and listens to his musings on love with tragic, but ultimately inspirational consequences.

Literary significance and criticism

Translated into English, ''Extension du domaine de la lutte'' ("extension of the domain of struggle") has been called the more succinct ''Whatever''. Although this word does not relate to the original French title, it connects to the protagonist's defeatist view of life. The struggle of the original title is expressly associated with class struggle in a parody of

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

slogans made popular by the Parisian student movement of 1968, in which the political revolution was extended to the sexual realm, as well as economic antagonism. "The thesis is that the

sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and the developed world from the 1 ...

of the Sixties created not

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

but

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

in the sexual market, that the unattractive underclass is exiled while the privileged initiates are drained by corruption, sloth, and excess."''The Sex export'' The Independent on Sunday 21 August 2001

References

External links

Information and links to critics' views of the film
* {{Authority control 1994 French novels French novels adapted into films French-language novels Novels by Michel Houellebecq Literature related to the sexual revolution 1994 debut novels Serpent's Tail books