Pós-humanismo, bioética e relações de poder: a desumanização dos clones na obra Não me abandone jamais, de Kazuo Ishiguro

Abstract

This work aims one analysis of Kazuo Ishiguro’s literary work, called Never Let Me go (2005), concerning the following aspects: the bioethics, the posthumanism, the science fiction and the power relations, in order to characterize the process of dehumanization of the clones. Thus, our hypothesis is to demonstrate how the clones are dehumanized once we understand this dehumanization occurs when they are considered disposable. As it will be proved, the dehumanization of the clones is characterized by the disrespect to their rights, by the use of their lives as a strategy to postpone the death of a privileged part of the society, and, consequently, by the power relations, which grant the richest ones the access to the resources that prolong their lives. In that respect, each analyzed aspect helped us understand a facet of that characterization, since the bioethics, for example, explained the conduct in scientific researches; the post human helped us understand the use of artificial resources in the human body in order to improve the quality of life; the science fiction helped us understand the reason why the clones were part of this narrative; and, finally, the power relations explained the way the strong subjugated the weak, who, in that case, are represented by the privileged subjects and the clones, respectively. We also exploited the dystopia and its characteristics in the object of study, once the clones were considered less than humans. We concluded that the clones’ dehumanization is present in the narrative and that Ishiguro used many metaphors to call his readers’ attention to themes like what we are, the value of life and the importance of art and education in the humanization process. Our theory support includes Agamben, Baudrillhard, Bauman, Broderic, Causo, Claeys, Diniz & Guilhem, Foucault, Harari, Jeha, Markendorf, Punter, Roberts, Santaella, Shelley, Sibilia, Wong, among others.