
The Slave of Seriousness - tintinnabula
https://slate.com/culture/2019/10/sontag-benjamin-moser-biography-review.html
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majos
Since this article didn’t do it (or if it did, I missed it), can someone
explain why Susan Sontag is considered an important American intellectual
figure? I’ve read a few articles about her over the years, and the general
picture is of a charismatic, intelligent, intimidating person whose
contribution seems to be just...being that kind of person, the famous Susan
Sontag. Unfortunately, the accounts from people around her have a weird cult
of personality vibe that make her seem like an academic con artist.

Of course, that’s pretty uncharitable. So can anyone explain some of what
Sontag contributed, or how her work has helped you in some way, a specific
work of hers to read, etc?

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iron0013
Read Notes on Camp. I’m certainly no expert on Theory, but a lot of stuff in
there rang true to me. Also, be sure to read the linked Slate article if you
haven’t. The title makes it sound like it’s going to be an anti-Sontag
polemic, but it’s really not at all.

If there’s one feminist author who really doesn’t deserve the usual “feminists
bad!” treatment that some corners of the internet default to, it’s Sontag.

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majos
Thanks, I’ll read Notes on Camp.

I did read the Slate article, and I didn’t get much out of it beyond a claim
that Sontag, via her writings or just her status as a public figure,
represented and argued for a serious approach to thinking about culture. But
this conclusion seemed oddly tacked on to the end of the article.

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ritchiea
Also for many major figures like Sontag their impact is hard to measure just
by reading their work. Their impact is measured more by influence on their
peers and intellectual ancestors. So if you're not familiar with an entire
canon of literature you might find her interesting but not necessarily
special.

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Merrill
Most Americans seem to regard literature, art and other cultural subjects as
an innocuous recreational activity. Since they are not taken seriously, there
is not much call for censorship. On the other hand, perhaps our freedom of
expression allows such variation of writing and arts to flourish that they are
not taken seriously.

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CptFribble
I would add that Americans' deification of money also drives this view. In our
culture, anything that doesn't produce profit is by definition a hobby, and
can be safely ignored.

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msla
Europeans seem obsessed with obscure status games, which probably drives the
obscurantism in European (Continental [sic]) philosophy.

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AzzieElbab
Pardon my ignorance but I only heard of Susan Sontag because Nassim Taleb used
meeting her to illustrate "virtue signaling" in one of his books

