Paranoia and Christianity in Maurice Dantec's Crime Fiction

Maurice Dantec is “a prophet, a mystic, a Christian soldier, Zionist and pro-American, anti-secular and militantly counter-revolutionary. In short, the last scandal of French literature,” according to his editor David Kersan. Dantec’s brand of punk neo-Christian literary activism may feel somehow out of place in a literary milieu still beholden to the existentialism of Sartre and the revolutionary ethos of the 1960s. But Dantec’s “disgust” (of Old Europe, the creeping menace of Islam and the rampant march of secularization) bears witness to a larger malaise. Along with Michel Houellebecq and Peter Sloterdijk, he testifies to the opening of a new chapter in the culture wars, to the rise of a new group of “ecrivains maudits” who have decided to vehemently question postmodern nihilism and economic globalization. Finally, Dantec’s fiction makes a case for the need for faith in a Godless world. This essay is concerned with Dantec’s paranoid politics as they appear in his fiction, and most notably in his latest Christian futuristic trilogy. It is also concerned with the relevance of conservative Christian dogma in his work, both formally and rhetorically. This article is available in Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature: http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol33/iss1/6 Paranoia and Christianity in Maurice Dantec’s Crime Fiction Jean-Louis Hippolyte Rutgers University-Camden Maurice Dantec is “a prophet, a mystic, a Christian soldier, Zionist and pro-American, anti-secular and militantly counter-revolutionary. In short, the last scandal of French literature,” according to his editor David Kersan.1 Without a doubt, Dantec has ruffled more than a few feathers over the past few years, and his brand of punk neo-Christian literary activism may feel somehow out of place in a literary milieu still beholden to the existentialism of Sartre and the revolutionary ethos of the 1960s. But Dantec’s disgust for Old Europe, for the creeping menace of Islam, and for the rampant march of secularization bears witness to a larger malaise. Along with Michel Houellebecq and Peter Sloterdijk, he testifies to the opening of a new chapter in the culture wars, to the rise of a new group of “ecrivains maudits” who have decided to vehemently question postmodern nihilism, economic globalization, and what they see as the concomitant animalization of man by the entertainment industry. Finally, and most importantly, Dantec’s fiction makes a case for the need for faith in a godless world. This essay is concerned with Dantec’s paranoid politics as they appear in his fiction, and most notably in his latest Christian futuristic trilogy. It is also concerned with the relevance of conservative Christian dogma in his work, both formally and rhetorically. Early in his years, it became clear to Dantec that the times were ominous. His decision to drop out of University to play in a conceptual rock band named “Etats d’urgence” ‘State of Urgency’ must be understood as an initial reaction against the postmodern age. After a stint in the ad industry, in 1993 he completed his first novel, 1 Hippolyte: Paranoia and Christianity in Maurice Dantec’s Crime Fiction Published by New Prairie Press