A posthumanist approach to Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro and Machines like Me by Ian McEwan

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Atatürk Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2025

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: YÜSRA BOYLU

Danışman: İsmail Avcu

Özet:

This thesis explores the philosophy of posthumanism, challenging traditional humanist philosophy and rejecting the exceptional traits and superior position attributed to the human being. The contemporary novels Klara and the Sun and Machines Like Me, which introduce humanoid robots as the protagonists, present a picture of posthuman society with the coexistence of human and nonhuman entities and the blurred lines between different species. The development and standards of human life, the role of technology in the advancement of human subjects, and the process of transhumanism are explored through the representation of AI. The transgressed boundaries between human and nonhuman entities are highlighted, and the interdependent, embedded, fluid, evolving posthuman subjectivities are exemplified. The robotization of humans and humanization of the robots are at the forefront. The thesis clarifies the complex side of posthuman philosophy as the promise of coexistence gives rise to both hope and fear, and the novels start with a deep fascination with AI; the robots’ stories end in misery. The participation of robot characters in life brings about several ethical problems and necessitates new ethical regulations. Though posthumanism embraces diversity, the robots, as posthuman subjects, are commodified, otherised, and exploited by their human masters to sustain human superiority in line with capitalist designs. Contrary to expectations, the novels include humanist-posthumanist paradoxes while promising egalitarianism, they also imply carrying hierarchical orders. So, in line with posthumanism, they do not offer clear presumptions by leaving the readers in betweenness. Initially, the end of the human era is premised, and then the posthuman subjects are destroyed, forced to, or left to fade away. Far from proving something, the novels and this thesis offer inspiring and deep potential social realities for todays and tomorrow’s society.