Susan Sontag was an author, director, teacher, and human rights activist. She was known as “The Dark Lady of American Letters” or “Miss Camp” after her essay “Notes on Camp” (Grauer & Fox, 2021). She was born from January 16, 1933, and she died on December 28, 2004. She got her undergraduate degree in Chicago, and studied philosophy, theology, and literature at Harvard University and Saint Anne’s College (Estate of Susan Sontag, 2010). She married Philip Rieff, a sociology lecturer, at the University of Chicago ten days after meeting. Together they had a son, David, in 1952 (Grauer & Fox, 2021). Sontag and Rieff divorced in 1959. Sontag ended up dating Annie Leibovitz, a famous photographer in 1989. She was with Leibovitz until her death (Emre, 2019). Sontag was not a fan of labeling herself and limiting herself within those labels. She chose to not claim a political, sexual, or religious orientation (Grauer & Fox, 2021). She saw herself as a writer and an intellectual.
Sontag wrote several notable works throughout her life (Estate of Susan Sontag, 2010). She published four novels: The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America. Her nonfiction works include On Photography and Regarding the Pain of Others. Both of these works are commentary on the way photography shapes the way humanity sees the world.
Sontag was a public figure that was outspoken about human issues. She was the president of an organization that sought to protect the rights and liberties of writers and creators, the PEN American Center, from 1987 to 1989 (Estate of Susan Sontag, 2010). She published several works about injustices and hard times that she saw and experienced. She published AIDS and Its Metaphors after taking care of a friend who was dying of AIDS (Emre, 2019). She publicly condemned the several wars that happened in her lifetime (Trindade & Atlas, 2021). During the Vietnam War, Sontag showed support to the North Vietnamese by visiting Hanoi during a bombing of the city. She also wrote the film Promised Lands with her opinions of the Palestinian situation in Israel during the Arab-Israeli war. Sontag was strongly against the United States war in Iraq (Grauer & Fox, 2021). Her work, Regarding the Pain of Others explores the way humans react to seeing depictions of carnage and horror.
Work’s cited:
Emre, M. (2019, September 9). Misunderstanding Susan Sontag. The Atlantic. Retrieved November 27, 2021, from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/10/misunderstanding-susan-sontag/596653/.
Estate of Susan Sontag. (2010). Susan Sontag. Retrieved November 27, 2021, from http://www.susansontag.com/SusanSontag/index.shtml.
Grauer, T., & Fox, D. (2021). Susan Sontag. Jewish Women’s Archive. Retrieved November 27, 2021, from https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/sontag-susan.
Trindade, L., & Atlas, N. M. (2021, May 13). Susan Sontag, American iconoclast, essayist, activist, and novelist. Literary Ladies Guide. Retrieved November 27, 2021, from https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/susan-sontag/.
Hello! I really enjoyed reading your post about Susan Sontag! Before reading the post I was unaware of the accomplishments that Susan had achieved. I learned that she was very against labeling! I am surprised that she didn’t claim a political, sexual or religious orientation! Overall, I really enjoyed reading your post!
This post does a great job capturing Sontag’s perspective. I think that for our reading, this post lays the groundwork for her morals. She seems like a free, independent, and powerful woman who has plenty of reasons to write. Such an enjoyable post!
Great job. I it interesting to hear about how Sontag did not confine herself to any boundaries. She seems very outspoken and free, which is surprising due to the time period that she lived in. I am excited to read some of her work and hear about more of her opinions on different subjects.
Nice Job! I thought it was interesting to get a glimpse into her background. You give insight that shows me that she is such a strong and passionate women. It has made me interested to get to know more boost her readings!