425559

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun: An Optimistic Outlook of the Future

Article

Last updated: 04 May 2025

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Tags

اللغة الإنجليزية وآدابها

Abstract

Entitling the SF of the 1940s and 1950s as the Golden Era is not a value-free term, but it is promoted by a dedicated fan base and refers to a specific type of stories in which the protagonists follow up a strict plot arc and use scientific conventions to overcome hindrances. Another way of defining the period is to associate it with the tastes of John W. Campbell, the person most responsible for spreading ethical ideals about what this kind of literature should be like. Isaak Asimov is a prolific author best known as one of the great giants of Golden Age SF authors whose enduring and best-known tales involve robots. Welcoming accounts of artificial intelligence catastrophes undermines our faith that no challenge can be resolved with a combination of scientific knowledge, altruistic motives, and a proactive approach. What are the potential consequences if our well-intentioned ingenuity inadvertently leads to negative outcomes that impact us adversely? The conventional hierarchical structure of living beings, which positioned mankind at the apex of the natural order and the lowest in the supernatural realm, has been discarded. Instead, we now believe that our distinguishing characteristic is our innately superior cognitive ability or possession of a mind. If our cognitive abilities serve as the only determinant of our identity, what is our sense of self when artificial intelligence attains parity with human intelligence? Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel, Klara and the Sun (2021), facilitates our exploration of this inquiry.

DOI

10.21608/jfhsc.2024.425559

Keywords

Asimov, Ishiguro, Mind, Robots, Science Fiction

Authors

First Name

Rania

Last Name

Mohamed Abdel Latif Othman

MiddleName

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City

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Orcid

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Volume

7

Article Issue

51

Related Issue

55472

Issue Date

2024-10-01

Receive Date

2025-05-02

Publish Date

2024-10-01

Page Start

165

Page End

190

Print ISSN

2536-9458

Online ISSN

2805-3052

Link

https://jfhsc.journals.ekb.eg/article_425559.html

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http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=425559

Order

425,559

Type

المقالة الأصلية

Type Code

940

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

مجلة کلية الآداب و العلوم الإنسانية جامعة قناة السويس

Publication Link

https://jfhsc.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun: An Optimistic Outlook of the Future

Details

Type

Article

Created At

04 May 2025