- Trading Butterflies: The Representation of Asian Sex Workers in Vollmann and Houellebecq
- Malvestio, Marco
Subject
- William T. Vollmann
- Michel Houellebecq
- Orientalism
- Satire
- Sex Trade
Description
- The article compares the representation of Asian sex workers in William T. Vollmann’s Butterfly Stories(1993) and Michel Houellebecq’s Platform(Plateforme, 2001). Both the novels are set in South-East Asia, and both involve an apologetic and romanticised description of the sex trade. By comparing the two novels, I argue that both authors’ treatments of the sex industry develop a critique of Western Orientalism, and at the same time sympathy for and complicity with the colonial power dynamics that regulate the relationships between Asian countries and the West.
Date
- 2019-07-18
Type
- info:eu-repo/semantics/article
- info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Format
- application/pdf
Identifier
10.13130/2037-2426/11921