Algorithmic Governmentality in Data Capitalism, and Dystopian Bildungsroman: Dave Eggers’ The Circle

This paper analyzes Dave Eggers’ The Circle, a realist tech-fiction, to examine the realist representation of the hegemonic process of data capitalism, summarized as ‘transparency,’ ‘communitarianism,’ and ‘democracy,’ and the ways in which related human actions are organized, as well as the formal significance of his realist bildungsroman. Drawing on Antoinette Rouvroy’s concept of ‘algorithmic governmentality,’ the analysis focuses on the protagonist’s quest to exist as a supra-individual by constantly slipping into the infra-individual, immersing herself in the system’s mode of exchange. Although algorithmic governmentality is characterized and represented by ‘the loss of critical space’ and ‘the future preempting the present’, The Circle explores the protagonist’s perception of these as self-completion, the elimination of uncertainty, and the achievement of data civil society. Despite The Circle’s portrayal of Mae’s growth into a tech-utopian, this paper finds that Eggers strategically employs a (dis)aesthetic form characterized by hyperbolic satire, narrative simplicity, and flat characters to highlight the dystopian implications of Mae’s data subjectification. The blend of realistic representation and aesthetic deficiency encourages readers to maintain a critical distance from Mae’s successful transformation into a technological evangelist, framing the novel as a dystopian bildungsroman rather than a straightforward coming-of-age tale.