Blurred Boundaries: Internet, Authenticity, and the Individual in 21st Century US Literature

Dissertation

• worked out by Wesley Moore
• Cohort 1 (since 2022)

Blurred Boundaries: Internet, Authenticity, and the Individual in 21st Century US Literature

In my PhD, I explore how twenty-first century US literature concerns itself with new media technologies and their effects on the individual and the novel. Foregrounding the fiction of Jennifer Egan, Ben Lerner, and Lauren Oyler, I aim to investigate how these works redefine traditional notions of boundaries in relation to conceptualizations of “authenticity” and genre; boundaries between history and fiction, physical and virtual spaces, as well as public and private notions of the self. Despite evidence of blurred boundaries, I hypothesize authors privilege physical space and personal collaboration over virtual spaces and online discourses. Finally, I aim to explore the public function of these works, proposing they operate as democratic counterpoints to rising illiberalism visible on the internet.