Memory and Posthuman Subjectivity in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go

Abstract This article explores the significance of posthuman subjectivity and memory in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005). The narrative details the life of clones bred for medical donation, who are facing premature demise. Kathy H., the protagonist and narrator, has been criticized for her seeming passivity and submission to oppression. However, this inquiry contends that her narrative – propelled by her act of remembrance – is a mechanism formulated to reclaim the agency of the non-human other or posthuman subject. The study employs Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of ‘desire’ and ‘becoming’ to examine the clones’ desires, which are constrained by their posthuman status. Walter Benjamin’s idea of ‘remembrance’ is also used to analyze how memory facilitates the clones’ tangential recovery of agency and alleviates their suffering. Through the analysis of Ishiguro’s novel, the intricate dynamics of posthuman subjectivity and memory are uncovered.