Liminal Identities in a Digital Age: Hyperreality, and Erosion of Interpersonal Relationships in Keren David's The Disconnect

Abstract

Literature comes alive with digital technologies and social media and their effect on human relationships and changing dynamics of identity have become a primary focus in the times of today. The study here explores the impact of digital disconnection on interpersonal relationships and the interaction between authenticity and mediated relationships. The Disconnect (2019) by Keren David is a compelling story about the relationship between characters and how social media dependence of any kind can lead to a lack of understanding of social communication. The Disconnect is analysed in this research paper using a qualitative approach to study the interpersonal relationships between the characters in the text when they are not connected to social media, identifying the complex ways in which technology affects inter-personal relationships. This approach enables a close reading of the text and a discussion regarding digital identity, hyperreality and interpersonal relationships. The theoretical framework for the study is based on Jean Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality, which he described in the book Simulacra and Simulation (1981), and based on the fact that social media have the ability to distort the perception of the characters in the study with regard to their self and relationship. The ongoing research study will be beneficial when it comes to the relationship between literature, hyperreality and digital identities, as it will be useful in grasping how literature adds to the current social issues by exploring the changing relationship between authenticity and hyperreality in the digital age. The results demonstrate that the digital dissociation opens up a liminal space in which characters face the fragility of technology dependent relationships, in which authentic human relationships can potentially be reconstructed.