POSTHUMANISM AND THE QUESTION OF IDENTITY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF KAZUO ISHIGURO’S KLARA AND THE SUN (2021)

Abstract

Posthumanism has been challenging traditional notions of human existence, humanity, and a sense of identity in a constantly changing society. The rapid introduction of AI into the daily life of humans raises a range of issues about the boundary between machines and humans. The study scrutinizes how contemporary writing redefines notions of identity and moral agents in the context of machines. This research focuses on the investigation of the character Klara, an artificial friend (AF) that is a character in Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021).  N. Katherine Hayles' posthumanist theories, The Way We Became Human (1999) used to analyze the text of the selected novel. The goal is to investigate the character's self-image, the moral and ethical thought process, and the significance of studying the posthuman identity. The study is noteworthy because it contributes to debates concerning posthumanist ethics, in addition to identity, and provides new insight into how artificial life forms can display human traits. The study reveals that the protagonist of Ishiguro's Klara challenges humanistic ideas by emphasizing sacrifice and compassion as the main characteristics that define humans as well as artificial universes.