Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science) ›› 2024, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (3): 144-150.DOI: 10.15936/j.cnki.1008-3758.2024.03.016

• Linguistics and Literature • Previous Articles    

“Aura” in the Posthuman Era: Technology of Reproduction in Klara and the Sun

ZHU Mengmeng   

  1. (Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China)
  • Published:2024-05-31
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Abstract: The concept of “aura” proposed in Walter Benjamin's book The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction provides significant insights into the technology, posthuman bodies and subjectivity shown in Kazuo Ishiguro's science fiction novel Klara and the Sun. Benjamin lived in an era of large-scale mechanical reproduction, in which he realized that the authenticity of artworks had been eroded. Similarly, what Kazuo Ishiguro imagined in this fiction is also a new era in which human reproduction is possible. Therefore, he explores not only whether human beings can be replaced by machines, but also whether humans can be replaced by copies of themselves. Through Klara's philosophical thinking, this novel points out that the “aura” of human beings is not entirely from oneself, but more in the way humans look at each other. In addition, this novel also indicates the crisis of alienation and waste from large-scale reproduction.

Key words: posthuman; science fiction; artificial intelligence; aura

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