Exploring Late-Stage Capitalism in Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story

Abstract

Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story is explored in the context of late-stage capitalism. The study is based on a set of theories that have been developed by Fredric Jameson in his analysis of the cultural logic of late capitalism and complemented by the analysis of neoliberal financialization by David Harvey and the concept of capitalist realism by Mark Fisher. The research analyzes the systemic economic forces depicted in the narrative in a systematic thematic analysis, which creates an examination of how the systemic economic forces relate to individual subjectivity. The findings are grouped into three important areas: first, the identity of the characters is commodified, and they are assigned a "credit ranking" based on their data; second, the main characters, Lenny Abramov and Eunice Park, are ubiquitous, and their personal lives are being overtaken by financial fluctuations; third, the intimacy between the characters is disintegrated. Their relationship is a central point of conflict and highlights the growing instrumentalization and emptiness of romantic love through technological monitoring and consumerist appetites. The article thus combines these theories, suggesting that the story of Shteyngart is a powerful attack on modernity, as he finds it hard to envision the "outside" of a system that is so successful at commodifying the human heart.