Power Relations, Disciplines and Technologies of the Self in My Sister’s Keeper and Never Let Me Go

• Main Authors: Chang, Tin-Ju, 張婷筑
• Other Authors: Hsiao,Yun-Hua
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/74jb3r

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 英語學系 === 105 === This thesis aims to interpret My Sister’s Keeper and Never Let Me Go in terms of Michel Foucault’s notions. Three aspects of Foucault’s theoretical conceptions, namely, the power relations, disciplines, and technologies of the self, will be applied to these two novels. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter consists of a general introduction referencing previous studies of My Sister’s Keeper and Never Let Me Go and explaining how to apply Foucault’s concepts to these texts. In Chapter Two, Foucault’s panoptic power relations, disciplines, and technologies of the self are expounded in detail. Chapter Three focuses on the analyses in My Sister’s Keeper. It discusses the power relations in the family and how the disciplines are applied to bring about the docility of the savior baby, Anna, who assumes the responsibility of saving her sibling. It also examines how Anna, through the application of technologies of the self, reexamines her memory to know the self that she is and how she files a lawsuit to fight for autonomy over her own body. Chapter Four focuses on the analyses in Never Let Me Go. It discusses the existence of omnipresent power relations and how disciplines lead to the clones’ obedience to the task assigned by society. In addition, it explores how the protagonist Kathy makes sense of her life by the technology of friendship and taking care of others. The last section sums up the main ideas of the thesis as well as the similarities and differences between the savior baby, Anna, in My Sister’s Keeper and the clone, Kathy, in Never Let Me Go. The thesis emphasizes that although the savior baby and the clones are manipulated through the institutions of power networks, nevertheless the boundaries set by such controlling forces can be transcended through knowing the self, taking care of others and practicing ethical values, so as reach an aesthetics of existence. Keywords: power relation, discipline, technology of the self, surveillance, clone, savior baby