Unraveling Digital Identity, Trauma and Memory: An Analysis of Posthumanism in Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House (2022)

Abstract

Egan’s The Candy House (2022) presents a speculative yet sharply resonant portrayal of a future in which human consciousness, memory, and identity are radically altered by digital technology. Set in a world where individuals can upload and share their inner lives through a system called “Own Your Unconscious,” the novel interrogates the ethical, psychological, and existential dimensions of posthuman existence. This research critically explores how trauma, memory, and digital identity intersect in Egan’s narrative, employing a posthumanist framework to examine the dissolution of coherent selfhood in the face of algorithmic control, data commodification, and hyperconnectivity. Drawing on theoretical insights from scholars such as N. Katherine Hayles (1999)  the study adopts a qualitative literary methodology grounded in close textual analysis. It investigates how digitally mediated memory alters the experience and expression of trauma, and how identity becomes fragmented, externalized, and socially constructed through technological systems. The findings suggest that Egan critiques the loss of narrative agency and emotional authenticity in a world driven by digital transparency and surveillance. Her portrayal of posthuman identity reflects both the seductive promise and the deep psychological cost of total technological immersion. This research contributes to broader conversations about the role of fiction in anticipating digital futures, and encourages further interdisciplinary inquiry into how emerging technologies reshape the human condition particularly in relation to memory, trauma, and the evolving contours of selfhood.