Toby told me to read this book on the train home for reading week. I have mixed feelings towards it, really. Some of the content I found interesting, whilst other bits bored me to death. Bauman mainly seemed to talk about how identity has changed in modern times, and mentions the 'fluid world' and 'liquid modern era' rather alot. thoughts:
' Identity is revealed to us only as something to be invented rather than discovered' Identity, although now a 'burning issue', was previously alot more simple.
The internet and fake indentites. but are they fake? Only if you presume that a person has one true, solid identity. Bauman suggests that people are forced to constantly change their identities, and that 'eletronic instruments' help them to do this.
Are our identities being shaped by what we consume?
Do the internet/mobile phones etc mean we lose real relationships and connections?
not sure how any of this could lead to an essay title. might read some more books.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Natalie.
ReplyDeleteI agree. A good antidote is a dissertation I supervised a year or so ago. Laura Siragher (BA Vis Com 2009) argued that Baumann has a rather 'old fashioned' or traditional view of what constitutes 'relationship'. Although his idea of identity might be modern, his idea of friendship and relationships is traditional.
Check out the dissertation in the library (2009, Vis. Com) - it got a first, and it's bibliogrpahy might highlight some interesting texts.