Memory Externalization and Interpersonal Relationships: An Analysis of The Candy House by Jennifer Egan and The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara

Abstract

In the light of the current technological developments and literary works, this paper explores the complex dynamics of memory externalization and how it affects interpersonal relations. To investigate these complex dynamics between externalized memory and human connections in the current scenario, the study focuses on the literary texts The Candy House by Jennifer Egan and The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara with the assistance of theories on the Extended Mind by Andy Clark and David Chalmers, Prosthetic memory by Alison Landsberg and other posthuman concepts. The paper clarifies how memory externalization, manifested in the texts, develops and reshapes interpersonal connections, identities, and perceptions of reality.It examineshow the commercialization of memories alters human relations, how it is illustrated in the texts, how different discourses are maintained regarding the commodification of memory, and how it simultaneously connects and estranges human relations. It looks into the causes oftechnological developments that have changed human perceptions regarding extensions, retrieval, and memory maintenance. The study also inspects the effects of this change on individual and collective consciousness and the creation of personal and cultural narratives in the
age of digitalization, where memories are more frequently recorded, shared, and curated with the assistance of technology.