Therapeutic Role of Digital Communication and Virtual Relationships in Beautiful World, Where Are You?

Abstract

The study investigates how communication provides emotional therapy and how emotional connection leads to a stable relationship bond, as expressed in Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You? (2021). Using a qualitative approach, this research employs close textual reading and thematic analysis to examine the characters’ thought processes and emotional experiences as expressed through conversations and extended email exchanges. This research is based upon Emotional Communication Theory and Goleman’s (2006) model of Emotional Intelligence. The findings of the research highlight that in Rooney’s selected novel, language serves as a therapeutic space. Email exchanges enable the characters to regulate their emotions and to experience catharsis by expressing the feelings of loneliness, doubt, and existential anxiety. Moreover, this research explores how emotional communication shapes interpersonal relationships through digital communication. This research also contributes to the psychological dimension of communication by emphasizing the therapeutic and relational functions of language in contemporary fiction. Finally, this study concludes that language can be used as an emotional coping mechanism and a tool for building meaningful human connections.