Ten years later: intertextuality of the cultural and philosophical ideas in novels “Submission” by M. Houellebecq and “The Notre Dame de Paris Mosque” by E. Chudinova

The paper compares the main images and ideas of the novels “Submission” (2015) by the French writer M. Houellebecq and “The Notre Dame de Paris Mosque” (2005) by the Russian writer E. Chudinova. Written a decade apart, these dystopian works depict the future Islamization of European culture. М. Houellebecq shows the beginning of this process in 2022, and E. Chudinova describes the final spread of the Arab-Islamic cultural tradition on the continent by 2048. According to the researcher, the novels “Submission” and “The Notre Dame de Paris Mosque”, being dystopias, have other genre features that distinguish them. “Submission” by М. Houellebecq is an intellectual novel describing the inner experiences of the protagonist, a French university professor who has converted to Islam. Е. Chudinova has created a work in the genre of a fantasy thriller, which plot focuses on the struggle of French underground fighters against the established order in Europe. These differences explain the stylistic features of the novels and their focus. A comparison of these works reveals a different approach by the authors to explaining the reasons for the spread of Islam in the European community. E. Chudinova accuses the Catholic Church of devaluing Christian ideals, which formed the basis of the value system of European culture. The following the false ideas of tolerance and multicultural-ism of the twentieth century society is called the second reason for its collapse. Later in his novel, M. Houel-lebecq explained the spread of Islam by the internal weakness, inertness, and spiritual corruption of Europeans, who were disappointed in the ideals of their culture and were ready to accept with submission a different culture - Muslim one. The researcher, based on a detailed textual analysis of the novels of M. Houel-lebecq and E. Chudinova, demonstrates the difference in their approaches to the depiction and study of one of the most pressing problems of our time - the interaction of Western and Eastern traditions in the modern cultural space of Europe.