The subject in the big data era: reading fictions of algorithmic manipulation

In order to explore how these systems are depicted in fiction, I define the key characteristics of what I have called “algorithmic manipulation”—specific characteristics of algorithms which contribute to digital culture’s ability to reshape subjects and subjective experience. This framework draws upon existing digital culture scholarship, including the work of Antoinette Rouvroy, Shoshana Zuboff and Byung-Chul Han, as well as upon the theory of computation.

But on a broader level, my framework draws upon and extends Michel Foucault’s bio-power concept, to consider how algorithms herd subjects en masse, and Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language. My use of the latter interrogates to what extent the fact that algorithms are inscribed in code has had an influence on digital culture. I argue that algorithmic manipulation functions through language and through narrative, and it is on these two fields that literature can most effectively engage with and encourage the contestation of digital culture.<br><br><br><i>Thesis embargoed until 31st December 2025 </i>