In this presentation, I will consider some of the question that arise for literature and the arts in a world of fast connectivity, social media, crowdsourcing, artificial intelligence: questions that are about writing, reading and publishing, about authorship and authority, about genre, popular and ‘high’ literature, about creativity, memory and identity. While they require answers embedded in and relevant to the contemporary digital world, they also prove to be old questions which literature repeatedly returns to.

In the digital age, the relationship between human memory and media is intimate and impossible to separate. The interaction between technology and memory is transforming how we experience reality, identity, and time. As we integrate machines into our biological memory systems, we may be entering an era where the human mind is no longer bound to the brain alone. The relationship between technological objects and human memory is reshaping how we store, retrieve, and even modify memories. From AI-assisted recall to brain-computer interfaces, technology is beginning to externalize, enhance, and sometimes even replace biological memory.

Gilbert Simondon’s theory of technical objects provides a unique framework for analyzing how medical technologies interact with and transform the human biological memory system. Simondon viewed technical objects as evolving entities that mediate between humans and their environments. Through this lens, we can examine how memory-related medical technologies—from neural implants to AI-driven cognitive prosthetics—are reshaping human memory and identity. From the perspective of Simondon’s technical object, this study seeks to explore themes of biological memory, identity, and the temporal externalization of memory through two plays: Nick Payne’s Elegy and Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime. These plays delve into the intersection of technology with the human condition, exploring how memory and consciousness shape our identities and how technology might alter or preserve them.

Memory is often viewed as the foundation of personal identity—it is through memory that we know ourselves, maintain continuity over time, and construct meaning from our experiences. The concept of temporal externalization of memory in Nick Payne’s Elegy can be understood as a central theme where human memory is shifted out of its natural biological boundaries and anchored in an artificial or technical system. From the perspective of Simondon’s technical object, this involves framing memory as something external, manipulatable, and possibly detachable from the self. In Elegy, the narrative explores a futuristic scenario where degenerative diseases are “cured” through a medical procedure that replaces parts of the brain responsible for memory and identity with artificial implants. In Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime, the temporal externalization of memory is central to the narrative, as it examines the relationship between human memory, identity, and artificial intelligence. From the perspective of a technical object—specifically, the “Primes,” which are AI-driven holographic representations of deceased individuals—temporal externalization involves transforming memory into a collective, externalized resource that is mediated, stored, and iteratively reconstructed by the AI.

The temporal externalization of memory in Nick Payne’s Elegy and Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime reflects fundamentally different approaches to how technology interacts with human memory and identity. From the perspective of a technical object, the differences lie in purpose, process, and relationship to time and humanity. In essence, Elegy views temporal externalization as a means to preserve functionality at the expense of emotional depth, while Marjorie Prime focuses on maintaining emotional resonance through collaborative reconstruction of memory. Each perspective highlights a different facet of how technical objects mediate the intersection of memory, identity, and time.

This study critically examines the formation of the Korean literary institution and the enduring legacy of settler colonialism through the lens of the university as a global affective regime. Centering on the Netflix series The Chair, the research analyzes the racialized and gendered structures embedded in the discipline of English literature and traces their colonial origins. It raises fundamental questions about the role of the university today in the era of “post- humanities” and the historical work the university has performed during the era of “humanities,”as well as the limitations and possibilities of the institution.

The Chair portrays, through the perspective of a Korean American female professor, the crisis of the English department in American academia and the affective pressures faced by racialized and gendered subjects within it. At the same time, this study turns its critical gaze toward the Korean university, arguing that it functions not merely as amimetic institution but as a settler colonial technology. As such, the Korean university continues to reconstruct the legacy of colonialism under the guise of national knowledge production, reinforcing neoliberal modes of governance through the regulation of race, gender, and citizenship.

Drawing on the framework of affective geography, this study examines the colonial and affectivefunctions of the university across the social contexts of the United States and South Korea. It contends that, rather than achieving a meaningful transition toward decolonization, both societies remain structured by the historical continuity of colonial affect―rendering them settler societies. The university operates not simply as a site of scholarship, but as a conduit for transmitting settler colonial sensibilities and power, and this affective structure continues to shape and haunt the Korean literary institution andsociety at large.

Through this analysis,the study seeks to reconfigure the flows of affect surrounding the technology of the university and to interrogate their political implications. Ultimately, it aims to move beyond the discourse of crisis in the humanities, revealing the affective mechanisms of governance performed by the university within a global settler colonial framework, and offering a critical foundation for rethinking the Korean literary institution.

Women writers in South Korea have played a crucial role in globalizing translated Korean literature, challenging the male-dominated literary field. This study examines their influence through a sociological lens, highlighting their intersection with feminism in Korean society. These writers have embodied their gendered habitus within the framework of intersectional symbolic violence imposed upon them. This habitus has shaped their literary practices, enabling them to transform “misrecognized” symbolic violence into a form of “recognition” by identifying and exposing it. Their literary strategies include disrupting conventional linguistic and literary norms, subverting traditional genres, reinterpreting and expanding female gender roles to portray women as agents of change beyond the familial sphere, and addressing social and political issues through characters who explicitly defy traditional expectations. By recognizing and exposing often-invisible symbolic violence in their work, Korean female writers engage in a meaningful act of resistance—one that not only challenges established power structures but also fosters broader societal reflection and progress.