Sympathy for the Clone: (Post)Human Identities Enhanced by the ‘Evil Science’ Construct and its Commodifying Practices in Contemporary Clone Fiction

Abstract

The manipulation of human DNA in the form of eugenic pursuit, cloning, genetic engineering etc., has become a well-established subject in science fiction for decades now. In our days, this thematic trend is probably the most prolific one when inspiring narratives in popular culture and also constitutes the source of much bioethical debate. A common pattern derived from these practices is that they generate dystopian scenarios where a community is oppressed and abused by scientific means thus portraying science and its agents as evil. In the case of clone fiction, the focus of this article, the inhumanity of the oppressive powers enhances the questioned humanity of the clones, a particularly complex and evolving type of character that is often commodified. This paper analyses the "evil science" construction and the semiotics of the human/clone identity it produces as displayed in the cases of Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005), The Island (Dir. Michael Bay, USA, 2005), Moon (Dir. Duncan Jones, UK, 2009) and the TV series Orphan Black (created by Graeme Manson & John Fawcett, Canada, 2013–). The cited examples provide references for typified patterns as well as for the development of both the clone figure and the scientific evilness component.