1 Introduction

This section introduces French literary sociologist Guillaume Meizoz's theory of "posture" in the context of deep media involvement in literature, pointing out that an author's image is shaped by multiple factors both within and beyond the text. Using contemporary French author Michel Houellebecq as a case study, it explores how he constructs a contradictory yet symbiotic "phenomenon-level" image through cross-media strategies, and the significance of such an image for literariness.

2 Conspiring with the Text: Strategies of Self-Presentation

This section delves into how Michel Houellebecq constructs self-presentation strategies through his works and media interactions. Houellebecq rose to prominence in French literary circles with his novel *The Elementary Particles*, which sparked intense debates on controversial topics such as racism and eugenics. Literary critic Jean-Marie Rouart regards Houellebecq as a spokesperson for the "depressed generation," pioneering a "mediatized" literary style. Houellebecq's creative mechanism blends media-driven hot topics with a detached "journalistic" writing style, while his "autofiction" strategy blurs the boundaries between author and character, inevitably turning media interpretations of the text into intrusions into the author's private life. Through symbolic manipulation within the paratextual system—such as juxtaposing his own portrait with the word "novel" on the French edition cover of *The Elementary Particles*—he subverts readers' perceptions of the boundary between the "real author" and the "fictional narrator." Houellebecq's identity as a "fictional writer" further evolves in *Platform*, sparking debates about the confrontation between literary fiction and real-world social ideologies. He internalizes media controversies as an extension of textual meaning, achieving a reverse consumption of media simulacra by literary fiction. Additionally, Houellebecq's media interaction strategies are evident in his "extra-paratexts," such as interviews and essays. He compiled numerous media interviews into *Interventions* and treated them as source material for "theoretical reflections." In his autobiographical essay *A Few Months in My Life*, Houellebecq retrospectively recounts the media "persecution" he faced with a literary flourish, transforming a public relations crisis into a victim narrative. *The Map and the Territory* explores the distortion and consumption of personal image in a mediatized society through the fictional plot of "Houellebecq's death," while also addressing the authenticity and aesthetic value that literary creation should preserve in the media age.

3 Beyond the Text: Cross-Media Extension of Posture

This section explores Michel Houellebecq's cross-media creative practices beyond the text. By creating diverse characters in his novels, such as sitcom screenwriters and celebrity painters, he metaphorically represents the contemporary media ecology. In his real-world creative endeavors, Houellebecq deeply engages in film and television adaptations, music production, and contemporary art. For instance, in the 2016 "Rester vivant" (Staying Alive) exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, he integrated photography and video installations with literary texts, expanding the material carriers of literature. His own image is repeatedly captured in photographers' lenses, forming a visual isomorphism with his fictional characters, and his portrait paintings engage in intertextual dialogue with the content of his novels. In the film and television realm, Houellebecq participates in performances, such as in *The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq*, where he portrays a self-image intertwined with reality and fiction. In music, he released the album *Présence humaine* (Human Presence), capturing poetic qualities through melody and pursuing pure aesthetic expression. These cross-media practices ultimately point to expressions of literariness, emphasizing the central role of literary creation.

4 Returning to the Text: Dissolution and Reconstruction of Posture

This section delves into the dissolution and reconstruction of Michel Houellebecq's authorial posture from a cross-media perspective. Houellebecq's works often face interpretive challenges due to superficial readings by audiences, which overlook the complexity and deeper intentions of the texts. Critic Michel Picard notes that the "unreadability" of Houellebecq's works stems from their ordinary, accessible writing style, coupled with high levels of discussion and sales, which lead mass media and consumer culture to undermine readers' perception of their literariness. In *The Map and the Territory*, Houellebecq employs irony to explore the complex relationship between author and work. His self-presentation undergoes a process of fictionalization, contradiction, dispersion, and eventual disappearance, culminating in the self-dissolution achieved through the plot of the "author's death." However, this dissolution is not an end but the emergence of another authorial posture. Houellebecq begins to conceal himself more subtly behind the text, establishing spiritual resonance with readers through the narrative labyrinths of his novels. The publication of *Submission* triggered a media storm, with its controversial nature becoming even more complex as media discussions incorporated the novel's plot into the context of real-world politics. When faced with fully ideological interpretations of his works, Houellebecq adopts an "ambiguous" posture, which is also reflected in his texts. His "equivocal" posture and the dialectical relationship between "appearance" and "disappearance" open up broader spaces for literary interpretation while calling on readers to move beyond superficial "first-level" readings and adopt a "second-level" approach to delve into the romanticist spiritual core of his works. Houellebecq's latest novel, *Anéantir* (Annihilate), further dissects the dialectical relationship between the author's "appearance" and "disappearance," concluding with conditional statements that remind readers that nothing is as simple as it seems.

5 Conclusion

This section summarizes the impact of Houellebecq's cross-media practices on the reconstruction of postmodern authorial subjectivity. It points out that Houellebecq constructs his public image and subverts consumerism in multiple ways, exposing the crisis of alienation in authorial subjectivity and offering possibilities for the突围 of literariness. It also emphasizes the need for a transformation in literary criticism paradigms, noting that literariness is diffused within dynamic networks. By "self-dissolving," Houellebecq deconstructs authorial authority, allowing literariness to be reborn as an open space for interpretation while consistently upholding textual authenticity. His works, with their open posture, invite readers to participate in the production of meaning, transforming them into active contributors to the construction of literary significance and thereby rebuilding a literary community.