https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i2.069
The Politics of Forgetting: Memory Suppression and Neoliberal Surveillance in The Memory Police
SWATI
Department of English, Kirori Mal College
University of Delhi, Delhi, India
Abstract: The present study examines the surveillance mechanisms operating on modern digital platforms and Social Networking Sites (SNSs) through the Foucauldian concept of the Panopticon, with special focus on Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police. Foucault’s ideas of surveillance, conditioning, and visibility are applied to the novel to explore how surveillance functions as a tool of social manipulation and oppression in fictional totalitarian societies and what this reveals about the contemporary world.
Human behaviour today is increasingly monitored and regulated through the intersection of capitalist conglomerates and state apparatuses, often in pursuit of economic gain and political influence. Extending the Foucauldian framework, the study analyzes contemporary hyper-surveilled neoliberal society and investigates how surveillance systems shape both individual actions and collective behaviour through their alliance with economic and capitalist forces. By comparing fiction with reality, the paper examines the consequences of surveillance in speculative fiction as well as in present-day society. Particular attention is given to how surveillance influences self-perception, memory, and personal identity.
The analysis further explores the characters’ relationship with the past, the fragmentation of memory under a surveillant regime, and the mnemonic reduction of the body within the text. These aspects are examined to illuminate how neoliberal systems contribute to fragmentation, disposability, and the perpetual production of collective forgetfulness. The study ultimately contrasts two modes of governance—one overtly restrictive and the other saturated with the appearance of freedom and choice—revealing their strikingly similar effects and the complex parallels that underlie them.
Keywords: Surveillance Studies, Panopticon, Memory, Neoliberalism, Surveillance Capitalism, Dataveillance
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