TECHNOLOGY, MEMORY, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY: A CRITICAL STUDY OF RICHARD POWERS’ PLAYGROUND (2024)
Keywords:
Bernard Stiegler, Construction, Identity, Memory, Playground, Richard Powers, TechnologyAbstract
In contemporary era of technological development, this study investigates the issue of the distortion of memories and instability of identity caused by technology in Richard Powers' Playground (2024), investigating how technology affects our consciousness and the way we perceive ourselves. This study addresses one of the major issues that concerns the externalization and reinterpretation of our memories, and how the identity is being degraded in a culture that is casting greater influence on ways people perceive and respond to their experiences in the past. This study investigates these issues using Bernard Stiegler’s theory as a framework to understand more about the relationship between technology and memory. The study highlights the effect of technology on our perception of time and the process of creating memories. The significance of this research study is its contribution to the discipline of literary criticism and digitizing the humanities. This study offers insights into how literature reflects the consequences of technology and digitalization on social and psychological life of individuals in a post-digital society. It is clear that the selected text Playground might be a technological tool for keeping memories alive; however, it challenges the validity of its use and suggests that identities do not last forever and change constantly due to the intervention of memories, time, and technology.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Farooha Lodhi, Fatima Bibi, Faiza Andleeb (Author)
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