Que pense Allah de l’Europe? (“What does Allah think of Europe?”, Gallimard 2004). The first essay made her fame: published at the apex of the heated debate in France on banning or not banning the Muslim headscarf, Djavann’s account added “the authentic voice” of a woman who, because of her Iranian past, “knew what she was talking about”. Her book, chosen by women’s magazine Elle as book of the year (!), quoted with approval in the French Senate, was received with applause by the French media, fitting in nicely with the terms of the debate as they had been politically constructed. Among her best-known quotes are: “Le voile, cette prison ambulante, cette étoile jaune de la condition féminine..., c'est le dogme islamique le plus barbare qui s'inscrit sur le corps des femmes et s'en empare.” And « Chez les musulmans, une fille, dès sa naissance, est une honte à dissimuler...Elle est l'objet potentiel du viol, du péché, de l'inceste...Elle est l'objet potentiel du crime, égorgée par le père ou les frères pour laver l'honneur taché...Car l'honneur des femmes musulmanes se lave avec le sang des filles ! » Proving that in France intellectuals are never too far from daily politics, after the tour of the media C. Djavann was among the selected few invited for an audition at the Stasi Commission set up by Jacques Chirac to reflect upon the application of laïcité. Her vivid testimony, described by some of the eminent members of the Commission as the audition which made “the strongest impression,” proposed banning the Muslim headscarf not only in public schools and institutions but also in the streets as “acts of physical, psychological, social and sexual abuse” (Libération 22/09/2003). The case of Michel Houellebecq, probably the most controversial contemporary French writer, is a particular one. His style, devoid of stylistic superfluities, is singular and sarcastic. Houellebecq’s books depict a miserable world of superficiality peopled by anti-heroes. The book that prompted 'l’affaire Houellebecq' was Plateforme, a novel of 350 pages which sold 240,000 copies by the date of its author’s court case. The plot revolves around sexual tourism in Thailand. The Islamic religion is not the main theme of the book; there are in fact only three paragraphs about Islam. Nevertheless, an interview in the literary magazine Lire (monthly; 110,000 copies) just before the publication of the book in September 2001 focused on these passages, asking the author to comment on the remarks made by the narrator of Plateforme. Michel Houellebecq relates a personal experience of total rejection of all monotheisms while visiting the Sinai before declaring: "La religion la plus con, c'est quand même l'islam.
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