Study Of The Construction Of Posthuman Subjectivity In Klara And The Sun Under Merleau-ponty’s Body Phenomenology

Subjectivity refers to the subject’s self-awareness,self-identification,self-fulfillment,subjective consciousness,and autonomy.The Nobel laureate,Kazuo Ishiguro,in his eighth novel,Klara and the Sun（2021）,depicts posthumans who are in a predicament of subjectivity and explores ways for posthumans to construct their subjectivity.According to the relevant theories of posthuman,the posthuman subject is heterogeneous,embodied,embedded,and relational,which echoes the body-subject in Merleau-Ponty’s body phenomenology.Therefore,in light of Merleau-Ponty’s body phenomenology,this thesis seeks to interpret the posthumans’ construction of subjectivity in Klara and the Sun from the perspective of body.Merleau-Ponty’s body phenomenology considers the body as the root of a subject’s existence.Through the notion of body-subject,Merleau-Ponty aims to emphasize that the subject is actually its body and its world,because only when the subject is the body and enters the world through this body can it attain self-fulfillment,which entails an affirmation of the inextricable connection and interaction between the subject and nature,society,culture,and history.Clearly,the body in Merleau-Ponty is the living body embedded in a situation,intertwined with the world,at once passive and active,and always in the process of becoming.The framework of this thesis is thus established on the basis that the body’s passivity is the other side of its activity.Klara the android and Josie the cyborg are the two posthumans this study chooses to focus on.The primary objective of this study is to map the trajectory of their subjectivity formation with their body as the anchorage,or more specifically,the subjectivity predicament in which the passive aspect of their bodies results and the subjectivity construction to which the active aspect of their bodies gives rise.This thesis is made up of four chapters.Chapter one introduces Kazuo Ishiguro and Klara and the Sun,reviewing relevant academic literature,and elucidating the notion of posthuman subjectivity and Merleau-Ponty’s body phenomenology.Chapter two focuses on the predicament of Klara’s and Josie’s subjectivity caused by the passivity of their bodies.The body’s passivity refers to the body’s being in a situation,which implies that it is inevitably conditioned and influenced by the situation.The passive aspect of Klara’s body is related to her artificial body situated in the human world.Therefore,she is put under the sway of humans,first being disciplined in the store and then being used to imitate and even continue Josie should Josie die.In this situation,she’s in a subjectivity predicament since she is deprived of subjective consciousness and autonomy.The passivity of Josie’s body has to do with her genetically engineered body conforming to the norms of a savage meritocracy,which not only confronts her with uncertainties about her identity but also denies her uniqueness in the hearts of those who love her.In this situation,her subjectivity is at stake since she cannot attain self-identification and is treated as an object.Chapter three is concerned with how Klara and Josie,who are in subjectivity predicaments,construct their own subjectivity through the active aspect of their bodies.The body’s activity refers to the body that can move and see,which means that the body has the ability to understand and change situations.Klara takes advantage of her body’s activity to construct her own subjectivity in her interactions with humans and the Sun.On the one hand,her attempt to develop empathy with humans leads her to realize her limitations in understanding humans because her bodily experiences differ from those of humans.She thus has a better understanding of herself.On the other hand,by forming close bonds with the Sun and actively interacting with him through perception,Klara creates her own version of a myth about the Sun,from which she gains self-fulfillment.Thus,Klara builds her own subjectivity by developing her particular values and worldview.As for Josie,based on the active aspect of her body,she constructs her subjectivity by embracing the influence and the alterity of the other.Through painting,which in Merleau-Ponty requires the involvement of the body,Josie expresses her understanding of the world and discovers the part of herself that is only visible to others.She also has a deeper understanding of herself as a result of her recognition of others’ otherness.In her interactions with others,Josie gains a growing awareness of herself and develops into a posthuman subject who is dynamic and in a constant process of becoming.Chapter four is the conclusion.It summarizes that the construction of posthuman subjectivity is inextricably linked with the body.Though the passive aspect of the body may jeopardize a posthuman’s subjectivity,the active aspect of the body makes a posthuman a real subject in the ongoing process of becoming.In a nutshell,this thesis draws on Merleau-Ponty’s body phenomenology to probe into the posthuman’s subjectivity construction through their bodies,so as to better understand Kazuo Ishiguro’s penetrating and forward-looking insight into the fate of posthumans.In this sense,this thesis not only offers a new theoretical perspective on the study of Klara and the Sun but also provides us who are also faced with a subjectivity crisis due to technological advancement with inspiration for the construction of our subjectivity.