Posthuman Cosmopolitanism and Post-COVID-19 Sensitivities in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and The Sun

With ever-growing concerns about the ecological well-being of the planet and its living species as well as the inclusion of robots into our everyday lives, an insight into cosmopolitanism without the posthuman would be lacking. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s eighth novel Klara and The Sun (2021), Klara emerges as a figure of the cosmoflâneur, who is marked by not only a wandering consciousness and observing abilities in her interaction with cityscapes, but also an active engagement with human health as well as the world’s ecological well-being. The novel not only presents a portrayal of posthuman cosmopolitanism, but also explores a post-pandemic living with unprecedented concerns about health, human enhancement technologies, and economic inequalities in the face of new challenges of the world.