Susan Sontag, an American literary figure known for her liberal thinking and thought-provoking works, was a prominent and influential critic of her time. With extensive knowledge in literature, philosophy, and religion, she engaged with intellectuals from various fields, accumulating profound experiences. Sontag’s confidence and maturity beyond her age were evident in her first work, ‘On Photography’. Her laboriously compiled essays showcased her aesthetic sensibilities, while her acclaimed novels, ‘The Volcano Lover’ and ‘In America’, brought her mainstream commercial success. Not only a talented writer, but Sontag was also a bold personality who actively opposed US war policies and visited war-afflicted countries. Even after her passing, her work continues to inspire young liberal thinkers worldwide, as she fearlessly spoke her mind.
Quick Facts
- Also Known As: Susan Rosenblatt
- Died At Age: 71
- Family:
- Spouse/Ex-: Philip Rieff
- Father: Jack Rosenblatt
- Mother: Mildred
- Siblings: Judith Cohen
- Children: David Rieff
- Born Country: United States
- Directors
- Died on: December 28, 2004
- Place of Death: New York, New York, United States
- Ancestry: Polish American, Lithuanian American
- Grouping of People: Jewish Writer
- Cause of Death: Myelodysplastic Syndrome
- U.S. State: New Yorkers
- More Facts
- Education: Harvard University, University Of California, Berkeley, University Of Chicago
- Awards:
- 1978 – National Book Critics Circle Award for On Photography
- 1992 – Malaparte Prize
- 1999 – Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 2000 – National Book Award
- 2001 – Jerusalem Prize
- 2002 – George Polk Award for Cultural Criticism for
Childhood & Early Life
Susan Sontag was born as Susan Rosenblatt to Mildred and Jack Rosenblatt in New York City. Her father, a fur-trader in China, died of tuberculosis when Susan was just five.
Sontag moved to Tucson, Arizona with her mother and sister where her mother married Nathan Sontag, a U.S. Army Captain. The family then moved to Los Angeles where Sontag studied in ‘North Hollywood High School’.
She enrolled at the ‘University of California’, Berkeley but transferred to ‘University of Chicago’, where she undertook studies in philosophy, ancient history and literature.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952, she taught English at the University of Connecticut for a year. She studied literature, philosophy and theology at Harvard University and earned two Master of Arts degrees in Philosophy and English.
She was awarded a fellowship to St Anne’s College, Oxford, where she studied for some time before transferring to ‘University of Paris’ in 1957. Her time in Paris provided her with extensive knowledge of French culture.
She returned to the US in 1958 and immediately divorced her husband Philip, after which she started living in New York with her son in a small apartment.
Career
From 1960 to 1964, she taught at City College, Sarah Lawrence College and in the religious studies department at Columbia University. Around this time she also started working on a novel.
In 1963, she completed her first novel, ‘The Benefactor’, which is about a man’s interpretation of his disturbing dreams.
In 1964, she published her first essay, ‘Notes on Camp’, which generated considerable debate and bought her a lot of attention.
From 1966 to 1969, she was very prolific and published ‘Against Interpretation’, a collection of essays advocating sensory reception of art instead of scholastic, ‘Death Kit’, a novel censuring US participation in Vietnam War, ‘Trip to Hanoi’, a travelogue and ‘The Style of Radical Will’, another compilation that dealt with modern culture.
She also built a good reputation as a film critic and in 1967 she was a part of the jury at the Venice and New York film festivals.
‘Duet for Cannibals’, her directorial debut was screened in 1969 at the New York festival. She directed three more films during her lifetime.
In 1977, she published ‘On Photography’, a collection of essays on the history and role of photographs in modern society. It received widespread acclaim and recognition.
In 1978, she published a monograph ‘Illness as Metaphor’ a criticism of the way modern culture perceives diseases and their victims.
1990 onwards, she tried her hand at writing plays and during the next eight years, she wrote four plays. Some of her famous plays include ‘The Way We Live Now’, which is about the AIDS epidemic, ‘A Parsifal’, an opera-inspired deconstruction, ‘Alice in Bed’ and ‘Lady from the Sea’, an adaptation of a 19th century play.
Sontag published two bestselling fiction novels in the 1990s, ‘The Volcano Lover’, a historical romantic novel based in Naples and ‘In America’, which narrates the rise to stardom of a Polish actress in California.
Her last book, ‘Regarding the pain of others’, was released in 2003. It is a monograph on war and disaster.
Major Works
‘On Photography’, a collection of essays which she wrote over a period of five years, is considered to be her masterpiece. The essays dwell upon the value of a photograph and also the significance of photographs in modern culture.
Her 1999 award-winning novel ‘In America’ traces the life of a Polish actress and her entourage in California. The novel paints a colourful portrait of America as a nation on the verge of modernity. This novel has elements of Sontag’s earlier provocative writing too.
Awards & Achievements
Sontag won the ‘National Book Critics Circle Award’ in 1978 for her collection of essays ‘On Photography’.
In 2000, she was awarded the ‘National Book Award’ for her novel ‘In America’.
Personal Life & Legacy
At the University of California, Berkeley she met Philip Rieff, a sociology instructor who she married just ten days after meeting him. The same year, she gave birth to her son David Rieff.
Sontag realized that she is a bisexual when she was fifteen. Post her divorce to Philip Rieff, she was involved in numerous romantic relationships. Her partners included writer and model Harriet Sohmers Zwerling, playwright Mar�a Irene Forn�s, artist Jasper Johns and actress Nicole St�phane.
She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 1976, but recovered after two and a half years of treatment.
In 1989, she met famous portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz and had a long relationship with her till her death.
Her son David Rieff is a writer himself and has also edited a lot of Sontag’s works.
She died on 28 December 2004 due to acute myelogenous leukemia.
Trivia
This famous literary icon was engaged in substantial humanitarian work in Bosnia, where she also directed one of her films. After her death, a street in Sarajevo was named after her.