- Maha Mohamed Munib. "The Liquefaction of the Body in Ta- Nehsi Coates’s Between the World and Me: A Study of Identity through Zygmunt Bauman’s Liquid Modernity Non- Fictional/ Racial Injustice

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 12-30-2025

Abstract

Zygmunt Bauman’s Liquid Modernity is a philosophy that triggers intriguing concepts about identity. It tackles exclusion, inclusion, the relationship between the individual and the state and redefines citizenship. On the other hand, Ta- Nehesi Coates Between the World and Me is a letter written by the author to his son describing his experience of life in America as an African American with a considerable emphasis on the concept of identity and the particular condition of the black body. The aim of this paper is to read Coates’s letter from the perspective of Zygmunt Bauman’s Liquid Modernity. This lens offers a perspective to Coates’s letter that raises existential questions about his experience as an African American. Despite the focus on the particular nature of ethnicity reading it through the lens of Liquid Modernity transcends the issue of race, the identity crisis he struggles with because of his skin color, and triggers questions about the human condition in a liquid world. It frames the identity struggle within the dynamics of living in a liquid world. However, stressing the significance of the body in the case of African Americans who live in a society that systemically works on destroying their bodies is ironical. This paper will analyze the intricacies of identity, and the significance of the body for African Americans in a fluid constantly changing world.

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