Susan Sontag
2001-08-25
Includes the essay "Notes on Camp," the inspiration for the 2019 exhibition Notes on Fashion: Camp at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Against Interpretation was Susan Sontag's first collection of essays and is a modern classic. Originally published in 1966, it has never gone out of print and has influenced generations of readers all over the world. It includes the groundbreaking essays "Notes on Camp" and "Against Interpretation," as well as her impassioned discussions of Sartre, Camus, Simone Weil, Godard, Beckett, Levi-Strauss, science-fiction movies, psychoanalysis, and contemporary religious thought.
This edition has a new afterword, "Thirty Years Later," in which Sontag restates the terms of her battle against philistinism and against ethical shallowness and indifference.
In 'Against Interpretation', Susan Sontag's essays are a compelling exploration of aesthetics and culture, challenging the conventional ways we perceive art. Her argument against the over-intellectualization of artistic experience strikes a chord, encouraging a more sensorial, intuitive engagement. The essays are erudite yet accessible, offering a fresh perspective on film, literature, and visual arts. Sontag's prose is both provocative and enlightening, making this collection a valuable addition to any culturally curious reader's library.
