How Do You Understand Zygmunt Bauman’s Thesis That Postmodern Culture Is Based On ‘Deconstruction Of Immortality’
Zygmunt Bauman, in his seminal work, Mortality, Immortality, and Other Life Strategies, posited the distinction between the modern and post-modern eras to be in their reactions to mortality and immortality, respectively. Modernity (or solid modernity, as he puts it), was characterized by man’s need for order and control. Conversely, postmodernity (liquid modernity) can be characterized by the erosion of this sense of hierarchical structure and desire to control, giving way to the deconstruction of immortality among man.
Order among men, and control over nature were essential in the era of solid modernity, where rules, regulations, and categorizations were man’s collective reaction to the unknown, i.e. death. In the nations of Europe and elsewhere, this sense of control, and the need to regulate and impose a tangible order to life, traded certain freedoms in order to gain a semblance of security. Reason could be used to dispel anxieties about death and the unknown.
Through such social mechanisms, society was able to hide the chaotic unfamiliarities of life, making life itself seem a familiar thing, structured and well-ordered. Bauman argues that these mechanisms were ultimately ineffective at achieving their desired goals. Systematic categorization typical of solid modernity inherently casts out the pieces that don’t seem to fit. In doing so, an other category is inadvertently created, and consequently, feared.
In the era of liquid modernity, man becomes a nomadic being, able to choose freely his home, beliefs, allegiances, relationships, etc. – all in an effort to establish their own narrative in an increasingly complex, globalized, and interconnected world. The ability for one to transit between one social position to another is markedly increased, and the self becomes a private actor with uncertain feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. The ‘solid’ fears of the modern era become ‘liquid’ in the postmodern. There is a transition from the society of producers characteristic of the modern era, to a society of consumers in the postmodern. In the man of liquid modernity, a sense of immortality is instilled, as he tries to attain a physically impervious body, with the aid of commercially available goods. However, immortality itself cannot be attained, and as such, his efforts are fruitless in this endeavor.
Bauman’s perception of postmodern culture is one that eschews permanence; It places responsibility in the hands of the individual to determine their allegiances, beliefs, and so forth, ultimately putting the individual in hands of their own existence. In the postmodern age, man, and to an extent life (and consequently death), is transient, and not set in stone.