https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i4.077
The Syntax of the Feed: Analysing Digital Trauma and Fragmented Subjectivity in Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This
SANIA NAAZ
Research Scholar
Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh
Email: sanianaazamu@gmail.com
Abstract: The emergence of digital technologies and social media has profoundly transformed contemporary experiences of identity, communication, and trauma. Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This (2021) captures this transformation through its innovative representation of online culture and its psychological effects. This paper examines how Lockwood employs a fragmented, feed-like narrative structure to portray the impact of digital environments on human subjectivity and emotional experience. Drawing on trauma theory and digital media studies, the study analyses the novel’s depiction of an unnamed protagonist immersed in “the portal,” a metaphorical space representing the internet and social media networks.
The paper argues that the novel’s discontinuous form mirrors the fragmented nature of contemporary consciousness, shaped by constant exposure to information, virtual interactions, and mediated crises. Furthermore, it explores how digital immersion generates new forms of trauma and contributes to the construction of a fractured sense of self. The narrative’s shift from online engagement to intimate familial grief serves as a critical intervention, revealing the limitations of digital existence and reaffirming the significance of embodied human relationships. Through close textual analysis, this study demonstrates that Lockwood transforms the syntax of the social media feed into a literary device that reflects the complexities of digital life while interrogating the consequences of technologically mediated subjectivity. Ultimately, the novel offers a compelling critique of contemporary digital culture and its effects on identity, memory, and human connection.
Keywords: Digital Trauma, Fragmented Subjectivity, Social Media, Online Identity, Contemporary Fiction
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