Mirrors and Windows: Synthesis of Surface and Depth in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article argues that Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021) represents an attempt to synthesize modernist and postmodernist conceptions of surface and depth in a positive way. In doing so, it parallels moves by metamodern and transmodern theorists, who are in the process of attempting to divine the dominant artistic mode following postmodernism. However, Klara and the Sun differs from most meta- and transmodern work in that its synthesis give surfaces primacy over depth. Surfaces possess three qualities in the novel. The first is that they can act as a bridge between individuals and groups by expressing hypothetical scenarios that enable cooperation between different parties. The second, explored through the image of the horizon, is that surfaces can be dynamic, and can combine a modernist sense of groundedness with postmodern relativism. Finally, positive surfaces are framed by soft borders, and as such the frames that delineate an image or field of vision can be recognized as subjective while still allowing communication to take place. Taken together, these factors suggest that the concept of depth is a misleading mirage, while positive surfaces are the medium by which empathy and understanding can be achieved.