Zygmunt bauman: Liquid love
by Giovanni Carlini
Love always aims at irrevocability but, at the moment of its triumph it is lastly beaten. Love tries to constantly to eliminate its sources of instability and apprehension however, when it manages, it rapidly vanishes. Eros is possessed from the ghost of Thanatos, which no spell can exorcise4.
‘Liquid Love’ is substantially different from the usual style of prof. Zygmunt Bauman, because even though it carries a title such as liquid love, the analysis of such is confined only to the first chapter, whilst the rest of the book covers thematics already discussed in ‘Liquid Life’ and ‘Desire for Community’. The reader will feel ‘betrayed’ by this choice, even though the author elaborates his concept differently.
Trying to remain in tune with the original topic of the book, liquidity of love, leaving the other concepts out, professor Bauman presents the following aspects:
a) There is a great resistance to make long term relationship commitments, mainly by the young, but also by adults. The pure consumption of relationships has become that popular that many people only seek this objective, use and throw away. What has caused this change in private life? Fundamentally, the uncertainty caused by globalisation (liquid society) has its importance, as well as the misuse of the internet which is a constant example of an idea which did not turn out as planned. The frailty of internet relationships becomes the model for real life relationships. Obviously the non-commitment structure of love is not compatible with love itself.
Until it lasts, love is on the verge of defeat. When it moves forward, it dissolves its past: it does not leave behind bastions on where to retreat in case of difficulty. (..) Love (..) is as terrifying as death, the only difference is, that it masks this reality with the vortex of desire and excitement5.
b) Bauman, confronted by love which is imperative and unconditional, that has now been reduced to a LED that turns on and off like a monitor, introduces a tripartite division love-desire-want. Love is subjected to centripetal energy (incorporating all in the concept of possession) and desire that opposed to love, externalises its necessities like a centrifugal force, thus Bauman is enlightened. Like shopping, today who goes to shops does not go to satisfy desires, but simply because they want. It takes great time (too long for the standards of a culture which abhors procrastination and postulates the need for immediate pleasure) to plant, grow and nourish desire. Desire needs time to sprout, grow and mature 6.
c) The geniality of the author , who focalises on the concept of want, which associates the consumes to consumerism, opens another concept. When a relationship between two individuals is governed by the want, shopping model applies 7.
d) From the superficial relationship fuelled by the want, the author goes on to criticize the culture of cohabitation, where two non-married individuals live together imitating a married couple, identifying themselves as “partners” and not as spouses. This is why cohabitation (let’s wait and see if it works and where it leads us) acquires more followers. The objective of cohabitation is modest, no promises and if declarations are made, they are not solemn (..) Often there is a lack of witnesses and authorities to make the union sacred. You ask for less, you are happy with less and thus what you have to put into it is less, like its duration. On this specific point the author had already discussed about a few pages before, with adamant words: Persons are not those who reach the great standards of love and thus enhance themselves, standards have lowered, with the consequence that experiences that are attributed to the word love have increased exponentially
e) From then on, having reached the 100th page of the book, the author starts discussing very interesting concepts, but not related to the title of the study, concluding his concepts after another 100 pages
f) Interesting side concepts are the retrieval of the concept of the imagined community by Benedict Anderson, which are added on by the transformation in community of interest of common identities, studied by Robert Sennett. These beautiful sociological discussions are however not related to the concept of love.
g) Particularly humorous and at the same time dramatic is that the author expresses his concept of the internet: Circulation of messages are the message, not its content.
h) The reflection by Claude Lévi-Strauss needs a mention: The meeting of the sexes is the land where nature and culture encountered for the first time. (..) From the meeting of the sexes, culture was born.
i) Particularly intense is the passage on children. Bauman confirms today that the most onerous investment that one can do in life is procreation, even though many times these children become “objects of emotional consumption”. Certainly in a society where wealth came from work, a child went to improve the life of the family (with agricultural economy, with farming, artisanship and extraction).
j) The first author to talk about sex in a “self-serving manner”, in other word, not as an expression of love, came from Erik Fromm. The idea was simple: cure solitude
k) Sex started off as procreation, now it’s a sport. From one extreme to another
l) On swinging, Bauman makes a parallel argument with Habermas in the clarity of “communication not distorted”, where none of the 4 spouses involved is betrayed, if the mechanism goes on in time.
m) On homosexuality, Bauman introduces Judith Butler and her book: “Bodies that count”. This book talks about the question of sexual behaviour not being imposed by nature with being born male or female, but a cultural choice of behaviour.
n) In building civilisation, the author introduces Feud and his book “civilisation and its discontents”, where Feud talks about two concepts. The first is that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” distinguishes itself from animal race and thus creation of civilisation. This is similar to the concept used by the already mentioned Claude Lévi-Strauss. Looking further, the reason why one loves another in a natural trust sentiment (not trusting is a social construct) is because one loves themselves in a different representation demonstrated by the other. Second important point is that sublimation (transforming energy from sexual to social) is a pivotal point that has permitted the building of modern society. Practically, especially the female gender, has this important “transfer” of energy from sexual to practical-social-intellectual.
o) This last aspect, Freud’s sublimation, is particularly important in the critique of modern society because the lack of “sexual certainty in a couple’s love” born by cultural events (less thought, greater tolerance and globalisation) causes damages not only in the anxiety department and sexual dimension, but also damages society which does not have the energy from the transformation of sexual to social energy. This then creates a social poverty that creates an absence of values.
p) The deafening silence of the ethical command
In the rest of the text, from page 136 to 214 of the 2013 edition, 17th reprint, themes regarding the great fracture of society caused by globalisation are analysed. Firstly the author talks about urbanisation and organisation of the cities, referring to the pioneering thoughts of the book “life and death of the big cities” by Jane Jacobs. Then he deals with education and upbringing of children expressed by prof. Goldszmit, alias Korczak, polish author who is known also for having written how to love a child in 1914 and the right of a child to respect in 1929. This is expressed by the fact that memory occurs by selection and interpretation of occurred gestures, and not by registration. The author also touches on immigration citing “Tristed Tropiques” by Lévi-Strauss. Subsequently he talks about individual nationality and national state in its three components of territory-nation-state which are not recognised by globalisation. All clever analysis however not central to the book’s thematics.
Translation by Andrea Anastasi
