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Benim Gibi Makineler’in Postmodern Dünyasındaki Zorlu Temsiller

Year 2025, Issue: 68, 116 - 127, 27.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.53568/yyusbed.1640793

Abstract

Ian McEwan, Benim Gibi Makineler’i bilimkurgu geleneğinde ele alarak okuyucuyu hipergerçeklik, öznel deneyimler ve yaygın tüketicilikle şekillenen teknolojik olarak gelişmiş, karmaşık bir dünyaya sürüklemekte; giderek daha da gergin ve etik olarak yaşanmaz bir dünyayı ima etmektedir. Bu çalışma, insansı bir robot olan Adem'in hikayesini, insan sahipleriyle olan deneyimlerini, ilişkilerini ve çağdaş bireylerin ahlaki eğilimleri ve nesnel ahlaki sistemlere tepkileri hakkında temel soruları açığa çıkaran alternatif bir 1980'ler Londra'sında ahlaki seçimlerini analiz etmektedir. Artık sabit veya nesnel bir anlatı olarak düşünülmeyen tarihin statüsü, değişen bilgi koşulları ve evrensel gerçeklerin reddedilmesini memnuniyetle karşılayan büyük anlatılar, simülasyon ve hipergerçekliğin örnekleri ile etkileri ve kapitalizm konusu odaktadır. Geleneksel ve inşa edilmiş eğilimlere meydan okumakta ve öznel temsil yolları aramaya yoğunlaşmaktadır. Postmodernizmin karakterler ve anlatı üzerindeki yansımaları değerlendirilmekte, dünyamızla ilişkilendirilmekte, yapay zekâ ve postmodern bireyin etkileşimi ve olası beklentilerle ortak gelecekleri konusundaki tartışmalı konuya dikkat çekmektedir. Sonuç olarak bu çalışma, teknoloji odaklı bir dünyada insanların ve toplumların ahlaki sorumlulukları ve yükümlülükleri hakkında önemli sorular ortaya koymaktadır.

References

  • Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and Simulation. The University of Michigan Press.
  • Bauman, Z. (1993). Postmodern Ethics. Blackwell Publishers.
  • Bauman, Z. (1994). Alone Again: Ethics After Certainty. London: Demos.
  • Beck, S. (2020). Do we want dystopia? [Review of The Passengers by J. Marrs; Zed by J. Kavenna; Machines Like Me by I. McEwan]. The New Atlantis, 61, 87–96. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26898502
  • Brzezıński, D. (2018). Consumerist Culture in Zygmunt Bauman’s Critical Sociology: A Comparative Analysis of his Polish and English Writings. Polish Sociological Review, 201(1), 77–94.
  • Cochran, A. R. B. (1997). Ian McEwan. British Writers: Supplement IV, G. Stade & C. Howard (Eds), (pp. 389-408). Charles Scribner’s Sons.
  • Gottdiener, M. (2000). Approaches to consumption: Classical and contemporary perspectives. In New forms of consumption: Consumers, culture, and commodification, (pp. 3-31).
  • Hodgson, T. (2020). AI: More Than Human, Barbican, 16 May–26 August: 16 May–26 August. Sound Studies, 6(1), 99-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/20551940.2019.1681173
  • Hutcheon, L. (2004). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. Routledge.
  • Jameson, F. (1984). Foreword. In J.-F. Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. (pp. vii–xxi). Manchester University Press.
  • Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Duke University Press.
  • Kelemen, M., & Peltonen, T. (2001). Ethics, Morality and The Subject: The Contribution of Zygmunt Bauman and Michel Foucault to ‘Postmodern’ Business Ethics. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 17(2), 151-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-5221(99)00038-X
  • Lyotard, J. -F. (1984). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (Vol. 10). U of Minnesota Press.
  • Marotta, V. (1995). Reviews: Zygmunt Bauman, Postmodern Ethics (Blackwell, 1993). Thesis Eleven, 42(1), 144–147.
  • McEwan, I. (2019). Machines Like Me. Penguin.
  • Nicol, B. (2009). The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction. Cambridge University Press.
  • Oppermann, S. (1998). Historicist Inquiry in The New Historicism and British Historiographic Metafiction. Hacettepe University Journal of Faculty of Letters, 15 (1), 39-52.
  • Van Raaij, W. F. (1993). Postmodern Consumption. Journal of Economic Psychology, 14(3): 541-563. https://doi/10.1016/0167-4870(93)90032-G
  • White, H. (2014). Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Johns Hopkins University Press.

The Challenging Representations in the Postmodern Realm of Machines Like Me

Year 2025, Issue: 68, 116 - 127, 27.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.53568/yyusbed.1640793

Abstract

Ian McEwan crafts Machines Like Me within the science fiction tradition, immersing the reader in a technologically advanced, intricate world shaped by hyperreality, subjective experiences, and rampant consumerism— implying an increasingly fraught and ethically unviable world. The study analyzes the story of a humanoid robot, Adam, his experiences and relationship with his human owners, and their moral choices in an alternative 1980s of London promoting fundamental questions about the ethical tendencies of contemporary individuals and their reactions to objective moral systems. The status of history which is no longer thought as a fixed or objective narrative, changing conditions of knowledge and grand narratives welcoming the rejection of universal truths, the examples and influences of simulation and hyperreality, and the issue of capitalism are on focus. The study challenges traditional and constructed trends and concentrates on searching for subjective ways of representation. The reflections of postmodernism on the characters and the narrative are evaluated and associated with our world, paying attention to the controversial issue of engagement of artificial intelligence and postmodern individual and their common future with possible expectations. Ultimately, this study poses substantial questions about the moral responsibilities and obligations of people and communities in a technologically driven world.

Ethical Statement

The researcher stated that she paid attention to all ethical principles and rules in collecting, analyzing, and reporting the data.

References

  • Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and Simulation. The University of Michigan Press.
  • Bauman, Z. (1993). Postmodern Ethics. Blackwell Publishers.
  • Bauman, Z. (1994). Alone Again: Ethics After Certainty. London: Demos.
  • Beck, S. (2020). Do we want dystopia? [Review of The Passengers by J. Marrs; Zed by J. Kavenna; Machines Like Me by I. McEwan]. The New Atlantis, 61, 87–96. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26898502
  • Brzezıński, D. (2018). Consumerist Culture in Zygmunt Bauman’s Critical Sociology: A Comparative Analysis of his Polish and English Writings. Polish Sociological Review, 201(1), 77–94.
  • Cochran, A. R. B. (1997). Ian McEwan. British Writers: Supplement IV, G. Stade & C. Howard (Eds), (pp. 389-408). Charles Scribner’s Sons.
  • Gottdiener, M. (2000). Approaches to consumption: Classical and contemporary perspectives. In New forms of consumption: Consumers, culture, and commodification, (pp. 3-31).
  • Hodgson, T. (2020). AI: More Than Human, Barbican, 16 May–26 August: 16 May–26 August. Sound Studies, 6(1), 99-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/20551940.2019.1681173
  • Hutcheon, L. (2004). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. Routledge.
  • Jameson, F. (1984). Foreword. In J.-F. Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. (pp. vii–xxi). Manchester University Press.
  • Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Duke University Press.
  • Kelemen, M., & Peltonen, T. (2001). Ethics, Morality and The Subject: The Contribution of Zygmunt Bauman and Michel Foucault to ‘Postmodern’ Business Ethics. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 17(2), 151-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-5221(99)00038-X
  • Lyotard, J. -F. (1984). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (Vol. 10). U of Minnesota Press.
  • Marotta, V. (1995). Reviews: Zygmunt Bauman, Postmodern Ethics (Blackwell, 1993). Thesis Eleven, 42(1), 144–147.
  • McEwan, I. (2019). Machines Like Me. Penguin.
  • Nicol, B. (2009). The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction. Cambridge University Press.
  • Oppermann, S. (1998). Historicist Inquiry in The New Historicism and British Historiographic Metafiction. Hacettepe University Journal of Faculty of Letters, 15 (1), 39-52.
  • Van Raaij, W. F. (1993). Postmodern Consumption. Journal of Economic Psychology, 14(3): 541-563. https://doi/10.1016/0167-4870(93)90032-G
  • White, H. (2014). Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Johns Hopkins University Press.
There are 19 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture
Journal Section Issue
Authors

Yüsra Boylu 0000-0002-9377-9505

Early Pub Date June 27, 2025
Publication Date June 27, 2025
Submission Date February 16, 2025
Acceptance Date April 10, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Issue: 68

Cite

APA Boylu, Y. (2025). The Challenging Representations in the Postmodern Realm of Machines Like Me. Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi(68), 116-127. https://doi.org/10.53568/yyusbed.1640793

Journal of Yüzüncü Yıl University Graduate School of Social Sciences is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC).