AI NARRATIVE AND POSTHUMANISM: SPIRITUALITY AND ETHICS IN KAZUO ISHIGURO’S KLARA AND THE SUN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17482278Keywords:
Posthumanism, posthuman subjectivity, spirituality, rational ethics, artificial intelligence, nomadic subjectivity, contemporary literature studiesAbstract
This study analyzed how posthuman subjectivity was depicted in the novel Klara and the Sun, written by Kazuo Ishiguro, using an approach from the perspective of philosophical posthumanism and relational ethics. The main objective of this study was to reveal how the artificial character named Klara demonstrated spiritual aspects, moral capabilities, and emotional dependencies through narrative analysis and interpretation. The method applied in this study was descriptive qualitative, using deep reading techniques and text analysis to investigate Klara's beliefs about the Sun, her ethical behavior, and the emotional relationships she had with human characters. The findings of this study indicated that Klara was not only regarded as a machine but also as a moral and spiritual agent that challenged the anthropocentric view of consciousness and identity, while also raising important issues related to the commodification of the body, artificial care systems, and the blurring of the line between humans and machines. This study concluded that Ishiguro's work made a significant contribution to the discussion on posthuman ethics and subjectivity by offering a fictional exploration of artificial entities capable of sensing, believing, and making choices, while also paving the way for further study to compare representations of artificial intelligence in various literary works and empirical ethical perspectives.
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