SCIENCE FICTION IN A SOCIO-HISTORICAL CONTEXT: A PLATFORM FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ROBOT CONCEPT

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of the ROBOT concept in 20th–21st century science fiction literature, focusing on three landmark works: Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. (1921), Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot (1950), and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021). These works represent distinct stages in the conceptual transformation of the robot: Čapek’s narrative depicts robots as symbols of industrial mechanization, alienation, dehumanization, and revolt; Asimov redefines them as rational, ethically programmed assistants; Ishiguro presents them as emotional companions, raising questions of authenticity, emotional substitution, and societal dehumanization.

The study applies thematic analysis, comparative literary analysis, genre analysis, and interpretative approaches to reveal how science fiction reflects shifting socio-cultural and philosophical attitudes toward technology. These methods allow for the identification of recurring themes, narrative strategies, and authorial perspectives that shape the literary representation of the ROBOT concept. The findings demonstrate that each stage in its evolution resolves certain issues from the previous stage while introducing new, often more philosophical challenges related to human identity, autonomy, and the boundaries between the human and the technological. Ultimately, science fiction emerges as a cultural laboratory for exploring the dynamics of human–technology relations, and the ROBOT concept remains a dynamic construct reflecting the values and anxieties of different eras.

Theoretically, the research contributes to cognitive linguistics, literary studies, and cultural discourse analysis by demonstrating how the ROBOT concept operates as a dynamic cognitive category, shaped by historical context, narrative framing, and authorial interpretation. This expands the understanding of concept evolution in literature as a reflection of broader cultural paradigms.