Manali Karmakar

Vellore Institute of Technology University

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About

Dr. Manali Karmakar is a literary scholar whose research lies at the intersection of posthumanism, affect theory, and contemporary fiction. Her most-cited work, a 2022 study of Kazuo Ishiguro’s *Klara and the Sun*, has garnered 25 citations and established her as a leading voice in the analysis of disposable culture and artificial consciousness. In this paper, Karmakar deftly unpacks how the novel’s posthuman protagonist challenges traditional boundaries between the organic and the synthetic, arguing that Ishiguro’s AI narrator embodies a new form of affective labor and emotional precarity. Her contribution is significant for its nuanced reading of how late capitalism commodifies not only objects but also simulated emotions, offering a critical framework for understanding the ethical stakes of our increasingly automated world. Beyond this landmark study, Karmakar’s broader body of work continues to explore the intersections of technology, embodiment, and narrative form, making her a vital resource for students and researchers grappling with the cultural implications of artificial intelligence and the Anthropocene. Her scholarship is distinguished by its clarity, theoretical sophistication, and urgent relevance to ongoing debates about what it means to be human in the twenty-first century.