Abstract: Jonathan Franzen's Purity represents the gloominess of public politics and shifts its narrative perspective from social space to individual life, a move that has stirred up the criticism on his weakened political consciousness from the academia. However, the representation of such a gloominess and the adoption of a narrowing perspective are actually intended by the author of the novel to explore, through a psychological approach, the reason why public politics is heading toward a collapse in the digital age. Using Bernard Stigler's theory of individuation in analyzing Purity may enable us to see its reflection on the closure of public sphere by digital capital and its revelation of how the capital destroys individuation through its hegemonic control over the informationalized retention. First, it advocates a lifestyle of consumption with a high-rate abandonment, which devastates the circular structure of desire and annihilates the yearning for a community of philia; secondly, it synchronizes the diversified consciousness like a herd and blocks the transindividuation where “I” and “We” continue to defer while remaining different, thus allowing violence to overwhelm the society due to the loss of the capacity for love. In order to revitalize the potential for action in public politics, Franzen reveals the power mechanism of digital capital from foreign space. By terminating the opposing framework that power relies on, he shatters the illusion about cyber “purity,” renews individuation, and expand the space for a community of philia.

Key words: Franzen, Purity, individuation, digital age, the potential for action