Free Speech and Digital Discourse in Nicola Barker’s H(A)PPY
Free Speech and Digital Discourse in Nicola Barker’s H(A)PPY
Author(s): Joseph DarlingtonSubject(s): Politics, Media studies, Theory of Literature, British Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: Digital writing; graphic surface; free speech; dystopia; experimental writing; Nicola Barker;
Summary/Abstract: Nicola Barker’s H(A)PPY (2017) depicts a dystopian future in which all speech is monitored and regulated. Politically dubious topics are flagged, metanarratives like religion and history are censored, and even words expressing heightened emotional states are marked as dangerous. Barker uses innovative techniques to visualise the warping of language under conditions of totalitarian surveillance. In analysing Barker’s novel, this paper applies the findings of digital discourse studies to the novel’s content while arguing that its experimental techniques reflect a distinct break from the digital information stream. Barker’s innovations are a formal route to escape the deadlock of our current politics
Journal: Lublin Studies in Modern Languages and Literature
- Issue Year: 44/2020
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 99-112
- Page Count: 14
- Language: English
