sarah masen
postmodern
by aphex on Fri Jun 11 04:38:02 +0000 2004 in The Arsenal
Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman prefers the term ‘liquid modernity’ to postmodernity and describes it as something like this:
In premodern thinking ideas were connected together as a structure a bit like the molecules in a solid substance are. The structure is rigid; the atoms can vibrate a little but they’re held in place and their connections with other atoms are clearly defined.
Modernism saw that structure broken down (melted) and then rebuilt based on a different set of presumptions (different connections, some new ideas).
Liquid modernism (or postmodernism) is a state where the structure has been broken down, but hasn’t been reassembled. The connections between ideas come and go, just like the atoms in a liquid slide over one another, and we are free to introduce new ideas, and rearrange the ways ideas connect together.
It’s not a complete definition, but I’ve found it pretty useful (this is very roughly paraphrased from the preface to his book, ‘Liquid Modernity’, which is excellent if you have plenty of time).
James.
