Sharifa Akter1* & Niger Afroz Islam 2
1,2 Department of English, University of Asia Pacific. *Corresponding author.
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 4, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n4.14
[Article History: Received: 29 October 2023. Revised: 17 December 2023. Accepted: 18 December 2023. Published: 18 December 2023.]
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Abstract
In Klara and the Sun (2021), the Nobel Prize-winning Japanese-British writer Kazuo Ishiguro fantasizes about an unspecified future world of possibilities for life with Artificial Intelligence. This novel raises complex questions about the notion of intelligent life, the fantasy of transcending the limits of nature, the future of the social bond, and the constitution of human emotions. This study portrays the unconscious fears, fantasies, and fascination created in the novel’s plot, centred on the solar-powered AF (Artificial Friend). The novelty of this paper is to show how Klara, the Artificial Friend, the humanoid, traverses the Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real and becomes a new Lacanian subject. The careful explanation of the study attempts to chart the impact of a new subject on human fantasy in society and culture from Zizek’s concept of Ideological Fantasy. It explores how subjects lose their internal being when their lives are entirely commodified and exploited as a component of capitalism. Finally, Ishiguro ends his novel where the being (nature) owns over the thing (commodity). This paper will also attempt to enlist the impact of dystopian fiction on society and culture. Hence, in conclusion, this study explores a constructive approach to understanding human fantasy and acknowledges the text as a scope that meets interdisciplinary promises.
Keywords: Artificial Friend (AF), Lacanian Subjectivity Formation, Ideological Fantasy, Desire.
Sustainable Development Goals: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Citation: Akter, S. & Islam, N.A. (2023). Artificial Intelligence (AF) in Human Fantasy: The Birth of a New Subject in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. Rupkatha Journal 15:4. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n4.14
