Den artificielle andre : Mänsklighet och subjektskap i Kazuo Ishiguros Klara and the Sun och Never Let Me Go

Sammanfattning

In Kazuo Ishiguro's novels Never Let Me Go (2005) and Klara and the Sun (2021), themes such as subjectivity, identity, autonomy and relationality are explored through the novels' protagonists, Kathy and Klara respectively. This paper aims to investigate these themes in relation to the characters Kathy and Klara. The paper is based on the following research questions: in which ways does the narrative construct and affirm the subjectivity and personhood of the characters, based on the concepts of subjectivity, embodiment, and interpersonality? and in which ways does the narrative counteract and deny this possible subjectivity and personhood, based on the aforementioned concepts? Using texts by posthumanist scholars such as Braidotti, Hayles, and Haraway as its theoretical framework, this paper employs a thematical method to analyze Ishiguro's novels, as well as incorporating a special focus on relationality throughout the analysis. As previous research as well as this study indicate, the question of the characters' is complicated and thwarted by conscious and unconscious processes of othering, objectification, indoctrination, and isolation. The findings of this paper show that subjectivity to a large degree appears to be something socially constructed and dependent on one's relations to one's surroundings instead of a result of an innate essence, or rather, that this essence is created by others' belief that it exists. This perspective encourages a larger moral debate regarding on what basis society defines subjectivity and personhood in relation to genetic engineering and artificial intelligence, and encourages an examination of the values behind these scientific fields.