In the course of a general flattening and late modern cultural alienation – to quote Murakami’s concept of the “Superflat” – the once solidifying sociocultural ties were transformed into lightweight, ‘slippery-to-sew’ links, which now belong in the realm of totalitarian kitsch and banality – that is, to all the ‘fossil’ remains of a “fragmented social world” (Keupp). Humanity was then faced by an exceptionally intricate problem: namely, the formation of a new social identity that affirms both individual as well as collective interests and merges them into a single cluster, so to speak. The answer to this ‘self-imposed’ question – after all, we know that people nowadays don’t have any life-related problems other than questioning everything on a permanent basis, if possible – was found embedded in the extractive distillation or the pure self-cultivation of a so-called “patchwork identity” (Keupp): Cartoon characters, made of soft and deformable Play-Doh or sloppily glued together papier-mâché, which are bubble-bathed in a continued flow of self-narration and the foaming process of manufacturing identity. Here, all that is solid and firm is liquefied by a strong kinetic energy – the term “affluent society” (Galbraith), namely, a civilization in a superfluid phase, may be taken word for word, then. ‘Late’ modern identity was thus put into motion; an effect that ejects the particles of socio-cultural existence crudely patched together from a center of ‘sameness’ (Lat., identitas), and converts them into a swirling whirlpool around the “pole” (Heidegger).
But, and this is my second point, observing this fundamental shift/decentralization will visually pop out both the concept of identity and identity crisis into the foreground again – in the image of the so-called “clash of civilizations” (Huntington). Social conflicts and confrontations related to identity politics with topics and issues that should pose no problem in today’s society are now fought out in the global arena of cultural space (or, rather, in the animal cages of the urban jungle/zoo), including tirades of hysterical mania – and, of course, all discussions are held in strict compliance with the requirements of ‘politically correct’ talk. The demand for an unambiguous truth-value that categorizes ‘wrong’ or false knowledge, lies, and deception within a societal unit is not being replaced but rather revalued by a moralization of the latter. With that in mind, the term ‘political correctness’ is not used properly here, since it actually represents no longer a political but a completely moralized accuracy or correctness, which elevates its keeper (of the flame of wisdom, that is) on the level of a more ‘worthy’ human being – an ‘Übermensch’ (overman), so to speak. Therefore, it is clear that the so-called “clash [rather: crash] of civilizations” is, above all, a battle for the sovereign world-view, the predominant influence of opinion, but never for a central truth itself, as truth has neither to be obtained, nor be protected against. Contrary to Christoph Schwöbel’s approach of self-identity evolvement it only reinforces the self-preservation of ideology.
This ‘inner bewilderment of modern humanity’ that finds itself lost in an urban jungle labyrinth wherein a swarm of people, in the likeness of worker bees, live in jam-packed beehives (so-called ‘skyscrapers’), and where ‘truth’ hangs upon the same tree as the toxic fruits of porkies; where every day “a new sow is chased through the [global] village” (a literal translation of the German ‘much ado about nothing’) –this all illustrates how our society is incapable of making ultimate and mature decisions, my third point. The chased sow are we ourselves, by the way: the self-proclaimed pinnacle of all creation – the shining cherry on the richly decorated cake of our proud civilization has ‘evolved’ into big and dumb pigs whose refinement is comparable to the sound of morally correct grunting, and yes, those very elegant cocktail parties – or mudslingers, that is. And, especially those who are – with respect – also able to sh** in the own pigsty belong to the most refined sort of cherries! One need only remember these groundbreaking debates as to whether milk is an explicit symbol of “white supremacy,” after all; – or Pepsi’s ‘do-goody’ ad that tosses with this ‘tutti-frutti’ approach everything into the bag of Haribo sweets all at once what is considered ‘hot’ right now and has currently been put on sale in the candy shop. Including top model Kendall Jenner, a Good Samaritan, as we all know, ‘born in the U.S.A.,’ the homeland of the Good. And that, of course, we know. Yes, precisely there, where the rivers flow of said milk and Pepsi-honey…
One might as well, in this sense, use the terms ‘cultural narrative’ and/or ‘narrative technique’ (a mode perhaps rather than a genre per se), to relieve the message of its ‘sugar free,’ but artificially sweetened gum of identity politics that weaves throughout those clearly defined “cartoon characters” and cultural identity patterns of kitsch and cliché under the guise of self-invention. This marks the fourth aspect of the treatise. It might be the extreme overuse of ‘empty phrases’ or the feeling of being caught between satiation and distaste as to why we try – while awakening from this encircling magic spell – to (re)frame or re-imagine our once flowery, ‘ideal’ understanding of identity in the ‘real’ reality. Philosophical and cultural counter-movements start sprouting out of nowhere, while they get energized by life-renewing forces that liquefy the limited remaining embeddedness of our solid-state world of stone. And, indeed, future society will have to face the enigmatic alien labyrinth of a ‘frightfully’ rather than ‘fruitfully’ fluid identity. Our hedonistic, fast-paced “fun society” can only speed up even more until that one big ‘mass of people’ is swirled into this whirlpool’s transforming torrent; – changing from the solid to a liquefied state. Clearly, the two-phase flows of formalization and dematerialization illustrate a “spiral of violent, vigorous force” (Härle); symbolized through and represented by the current riots of the so-called ‘Black Bloc’ [or rather: ‘Black Sea’ – mind the wordplay] against the hooded police, dressed in black, as well.
All that’s left in the end is to fight against oneself: it simply lies in the nature of a progressive-regressive culture to nestle in the cradle of being and then swallow the ‘sleepy hollow’ bit by bit. At first painless, it eats away at the THING. But over time it eats away at you, the SELF. That it continues to progress in this manner – is perhaps the actual catastrophe. However, what ‘progressivistic evolution’ will the very concept of identity, which defines itself through a problematic double role of the egoist and the ‘socio-infantile’ minor/minion, undertake in the late modern ‘fluid phase’ of a ‘wishy-washy world.’ Well, one can say for sure that contemporary identity will cut its ‘space-bound’ connection to the so-called “core self” (Damasio) and, instead, replace it with an outwardly directed identification with the “empty seed-vessel (pericarp)” – the ritualized form. In other words: We appear to have regressed into childishness, into an ordinary bird of prey (not paradise), while this seriously endangered beast of “pseudo-identity” is the very prey (think of our copy/paste-culture). So, where do we go from here? After all, it can always only go on, anyway. As far as I’m concerned, the next generation will be solely preoccupied with ‘filling the gap’ (between core self and seed-vessel) they have been dealt by modernity. Regardless, it remains important to use an infill rich in sustenance, as a means of keeping body and soul together – that is, a highly concentrated (condensed, evaporated) skim milk. Nothing too watery. Certainly not Pepsi…