The Hidden Anxieties of Modernity: A Study of Joseph Heller's Fiction from the Perspective of Alienation

Jiaru Sun

GBP Proceedings Series, 2026, vol. 29, 55-63

Abstract: Joseph Heller, as a benchmark figure of American absurdist fiction, reveals the absurdity of individual existence and the multiple manifestations of human alienation under the logic of modernity. This study takes "the hidden anxieties of modernity" as its starting point and systematically examines how Heller's characters become alienated beings trapped by space and power, body and desire, and emotion and isolation. First, it analyzes different types of spatial alienation in Heller's novels, revealing how power reshapes public and private spaces to deprive individuals of subjective agency in both action and spirit. Second, it explores the instrumentalization of the body in consumerist contexts, showing how characters fall into a state of "bare life" beneath materialism and sexual indulgence, and points out that excessive desire compensation ultimately leads to the emptiness of life and "sex without sex." Finally, it focuses on the collapse of emotional relationships in modern society under the shadow of the "death of God," where individual faith dies and human relations become a wasteland. Through these dimensions, the study argues that under modernity's logic, when the individual is compressed into a standardized social component, trapped by institutional restraints, bodily decadence, and emotional emptiness, an irreversible existential tragedy inevitably follows. Ultimately, this comprehensive analysis underscores Heller's profound critique of contemporary societal structures, offering vital insights into the enduring crisis of human subjectivity and the pervasive psychological fragmentation inherent in the modern human condition.

Keywords: modernity; alienation; joseph heller; absurdist fiction; existentialism; consumerism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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