Love in the Age of Apps: A Study of Digital Intimacy and Identity in Sudeep Nagarkar’s She Swiped Right into My Heart

Abstract

This paper examines postmodern themes such as fragmented identity, digital intimacy, and the shifting nature of love as portrayed in SudeepNagarkar’sShe Swiped Right into My Heart (2016).The novel highlights the struggles of contemporary Indian youth as they navigate relationships influenced by social media and dating apps in today’s digital world. Through the character of Geet, the paper analyzes how digital communication affects emotional attachment and self-perception, simultaneously promoting intimacy and insecurity. Using Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyper reality and Sherry Turkle’s insights on mediated relationships, the study emphasizes the blurred lines between virtual and physical realities. It further explores Geet’s experience of emotional dependency, depression, and her ultimate rediscovery of identity, highlighting the postmodern rejection of fixed truths and the notion of selfhood as a construct in the digital age. The novel’s open-ended conclusion highlights the evolving and performative nature of love within postmodern discourse.