Digital Loneliness And Emotional Alienation In Contemporary Literature: A post humanist Reading In The Age Of Digital Capitalism

Abstract

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence, digital technologies, and social media has transformed the way people communicate, build relationships, and understand themselves. Although these technologies promise constant connectivity, they have also intensified experiences of loneliness, emotional alienation, and fragmented identities. Thispaper explores how contemporary literature portrays this paradox through the concepts of digital loneliness and emotional alienation. It employs Posthumanism as its primary theoretical framework, supported by Marxist perspectives on Digital Capitalism, to examine how technology and digital platforms reshape emotions and human relationships. While Posthumanism highlights the evolving relationship between humans and intelligent technologies, Digital Capitalism reveals how emotions, attention, and online interactions have become commodified in the digital economy. Focusing on Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Circle by Dave Eggers, the paper analyses how these novels critique technological dependence, algorithmic control, and the commercialization of emotional life. It argues that digital loneliness extends beyond an individual psychological experience and reflects broader social and economic structures shaped by technology. By bringing literary analysis together with contemporary theory, this study contributes to current discussions in digital humanities and contemporary literary studies on the emotional consequences of life in an increasingly digital world.