Susan Sontag: She lived hard once, so she lived her life gracefully

Now when we talk about "self-definition", everyone will say coolly that I can only be defined by myself. Susan Sontag in the 20th century seems to be a person who does not need to be defined, or she is a person who cannot be defined, a writer, an art critic, a female intellectual, a theater director, a bisexual... no matter what Career or private life, no matter which one is chosen individually, the story behind it is exciting enough and can keep her name in the public mind. However, Sontag is always denying, overturning, and reshaping, and will not put herself in the spotlight. Frame in a fixed pattern.

When we think of Sontag today, which one will come to your mind first? "The conscience of the American public", "beautiful female harvester", "camp godmother", "genius girl"... She broke away from the framework of writers in our understanding. Her life was "absurd", free and intense, so she became the unique Susan. ·Sontag.

She lived hard once, so she lived her life gracefully.

Opposition to interpretation, eager to grow

Many people say that Susan Sontag is the ideal of literary young people. She showed her obsession with literature in her childhood. Shakespeare, Needless to say, there are works by writers such as Dickens and the Bronte sisters. When I was 15, I had my own opinions on Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason". When she grew up, all the boyfriends and girlfriends she dated had their own place in the fields of art and literature. She loved photography and movies, and even tried to be a movie actress. Life is limited, so the time for growth is compressed and she resists being defined. She is a legendary woman who combines all literature and art.

Sontag has been running, challenging new things, and observing human beings and themselves. She has been aware of the crisis of time since she was a child. She is much faster than her peers in reading, and her thinking is relatively precocious. This is not a bad thing for her who aspires to become a writer.

After graduating from high school, she entered the University of California, Berkeley. At the age of 17, she was a well-deserved talent. Her college years had a profound impact on Sontag's future life. For the first time, she was taken to a gay bar by a female classmate, which opened the door to a new world. At the age of 17, she had the enthusiasm of a girl and had a flash marriage with Philip, a professor at the University of Chicago whom she had known for ten days, just because he was talented enough to make her fall. At that time, she was too romantic or careless, thinking that love wrapped in adoration could overcome the age difference and be eternal, but she underestimated the power of self-ambition.

After giving birth to her son David at the age of 19, Sontag did not feel happy. She was doubting the value of getting married and having children early. She wanted to continue studying for a Ph.D., so she thought of it and left her children and husband behind to study at Oxford University. Later, she transferred to France and lived with her same-sex girlfriend. Sontag, who broke away from the shackles of the traditional family and felt the joy of same-sex love, got a breath of fresh air. She got divorced at the age of 25.

From a flash marriage, having children, studying for a Ph.D., to getting divorced, her 25 years of life may have condensed the life trajectory of others for decades. She is willful, she longs for freedom, but she seems so impatient. Why is Sontag so eager to grow quickly?

Sontag’s parents came to China to do business when she and her sister were very young, so unlike children of the same age, when they were young, their parents were with them every day. When she was 5 years old, her father died of tuberculosis in China. Sontag only learned the news a year after his death. Soon, their mother and Mr. Sontag held a secret wedding without telling her and her sister. This was a regret for the Sontag sisters.

In Sontag’s most important growth stage, she did not have mentor-like parents to give her the answers to love and life. She could only explore herself. This was her awakening. Because she didn't get enough love from her parents, she wanted to grow up quickly. She desperately longed for love from different people. Men and women, they and they are the hubs of Sontag's love. In our opinion, her nine beautiful girlfriends and handsome boyfriends are just romantic affairs, but this seems to be proof that she wants a lot of love. The vacancy that was once numbed by books and can be filled by books becomes more and more abrupt. This vacancy until Sontag Death is not completely filled either.

Gaze at yourself and see the truth

"The Benefactor", "Metaphor of Disease", "Volcano Lover"... Sontag is by no means as simple as a writer and critic; One who sees “camp” as a serious aesthetic. The core of camp lies in its unnatural, artificial, and exaggerated love, which simply means "kitsch". Exaggerated, gaudy, and bizarre, Camp is always marginalized because it does not conform to public aesthetics and is criticized by "elegant" people.

Just like a very funny saying recently, you may not like what I like, but please allow it to exist. Abandoning the standards of good-looking and ugly that we usually adhere to, I personally find absurdity and fun to be beautiful. This is the rebellion that Camp wants to convey. Because everyone has different aesthetic standards, they will have different views on the same thing. Diversity of opinions will give things their own value. Sontag wanted to rehabilitate the camp culture that was despised by everyone.

What can we glean from her unconventional sensibility? Sontag herself is as funny as Camp.

When people see her academic resume and realize the sharpness of her thoughts in her literary works, they will classify her as a female intellectual. People who do research are generally serious and disciplined, but Sontag is full of vitality. . This kind of vitality does not only refer to her elite qualities at a young age, but also to the fact that she does not rigidify her thoughts, always sings the opposite, and speaks, writes, and lives as she pleases. In her heart, she is the standard by which everything is measured, and what can be revealed later is the truth.

When talking about camp, photography, and disease metaphors, Sontag still has to return to literature. She said: "I do believe that the truth exists somewhere, but I prefer the form of truth in art and literature. In literature, the opposite of truth may also be true."

About politics , race, war, Sontag’s voice is hailed as the “public conscience” today. She always went against the mainstream authority and even acted “unpatriotic”. Although her words were harsh, that was what Sontag explored. The “unpalatable” truth. At that time, her views, like Camp's, were not accepted by ordinary standards, but she did not give up the debate and did not accept violating her conscience. Regarding aesthetics and truth, her big picture runs through art, literature and life.

Love life and don’t want to give up

Looking back on Sontag’s life’s emotional experience, it can be said that there was no window of opportunity. She was the one who dealt with different men and women with her beauty and talent. woman between. Painter, poet, dancer, writer, actor, photographer... Each of her relationships was full of passion, but fleeting. Some people say that when looking for a partner, you should always look for someone who complements you. However, Sontag was looking for someone who was excellent in her or his field, or she was looking for someone who was similar to herself.

I cannot say that Sontag is a very "sentimental" person. She may just want to have in-depth communication with the person she is dating. The collision of emotions, thoughts, and body is the prelude to her wanting to enter a new field. "Compressing time" seems to be her attitude towards life. She not only wants to use 24 hours as 48 hours, forcing herself to mature, but also expands the breadth of life, not just writing, living with different people is probably her way.

She is a casual, absurd and serious person, and she is very active in dealing with death. She is different from the optimistic person who yearns for death. Her will to survive is very strong. She has no time to be depressed and must be fully energetic to confront death head-on. When she was forty years old, Sontag was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer and could only live for a year and a half. Doctors around her suggested that she use conservative treatment. But she did not believe in evil, nor did she believe that she could be defeated easily. She accepted the doctor her French girlfriend found for her and tried intense chemotherapy. Sontag was very "cruel" to herself and was willing to take a desperate gamble. She lived for another thirty years. Because she has experienced it, she knows the beauty of life.

Her experience fighting cancer also made her reflect a lot, so she wrote "Metaphor of Disease". Disease is not a "sin" in a cultural context or an individual's "self-inflicted". It should not be a symbol of discrimination and oppression. It is just a physical disorder. In 1989, with the prevalence of AIDS, she wrote "AIDS and Its Metaphors", talking about the greatest disaster that the disease brings to people is loneliness. Camp, homosexuality, illness, Sontag always stands with the minority or the weak recognized by society. If no one is willing to speak up or roar, they will always be the misunderstood party.

The last battle with death made Sontag more concerned about the world in front of her, and also allowed her to discover more possibilities. For example, she directed the drama "Waiting for Godot" in Sarajevo, and was elected He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and openly accuses progressives of the incorrectness of their speeches. Cancer has not softened her, she is still as sharp, courageous and frank. In 2004, Sontag died due to a failed bone marrow transplant. Although she had hope of living, things went against her wishes. This time she failed to defeat death, and a star fell. Death seems to be too early for Sontag, who was 71 years old at the time, because she still has a lot of things to do, and maybe she can create many surprises that we don't know about.

When you look at Sontag’s photos, no matter what age you are, whether 15 or 70, the determination in her eyes has not changed. You can feel the strength in her eyes. It is faith in life. Sontag spared no effort in everything she did, whether it was love, writing, or thinking. She lived with all her might, not caring about other people's opinions, leaving whatever the outcome was, and walked away without looking back.