Consciousness beyond the Human: Exploring Robotic Subjectivities in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun
Author : Shivani Pal
Abstract :
In the 21st century, traditional ideas of human exceptionalism and human dominance are increasingly being questioned, and many contemporary novels reflect these concerns.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021) is one such novel. The story is told by a non-human narrator named Klara. Klara is an Artificial Friend (AF) who is bought by a teenager named Josie; a genetically lifted child who is often sick. Klara observes people closely and learns about their feelings in patterns. The story shows how Klara tries to protect and help Josie and she develops a believes that sun can help Josie get better. Her faith in the Sun’s healing power invites reflection on whether machines can develop a faith-based consciousness or spiritual consciousnes. At the same time, the human characters in the novel appear to be controlled by genetic enhancement and social pressure. The novel raises questions about whether subjective experiences and consciousness belong only to humans.
This research paper studies consciousness through the lens of posthumanism. This paper addresses contemporary existential dilemma and challenges hierarchical social constructs and human-centric assumptions. It also examines how Ishiguro comes up with ambiguity around consciousness using posthumanist perspective. Ultimately, this study presents consciousness as something open-ended, rather than fixed or definite.
Keywords :
Consciousness, Posthumanism, Robo-subjectivity, Spirituality.
