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PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Susan Sontag: One of America's Most Influential¹ 20th-Century ThinkersBy Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Sunday, March 12, 2006

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about a writer who helped influence modern culture. Her name was Susan Sontag.

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VOICE ONE:

Susan Sontag was considered one of the most influential liberal thinkers in the United States during the twentieth century. She wrote seventeen books. They have been translated into thirty languages. They include novels, short stories, essays and film scripts. She was also a filmmaker, playwright³ and theater director. And she was a human rights and anti-war activist⁴. She was said to own fifteen thousand books in her personal library in her home.


Susan Sontag

She was born Susan Rosenblatt in New York City in nineteen thirty-three. Her father, Jack⁵ Rosenblatt, was a trader in China. Susan's mother spent most of her time in China with her husband. Family members raised Susan and her younger sister, Judith, when they were very young.

When Susan was five, her father died of tuberculosis⁶. Her mother returned from China and moved the girls to Tucson, Arizona. There, Missus Rosenblatt met Nathan Sontag. The couple married and the family moved to Los Angeles, California.

VOICE TWO:

Susan Sontag was an extremely intelligent child. She could read by age three. She finished high school at the age of fifteen. Two years later, Susan completed her college education at the University of Chicago in Illinois. While at the university, she attended a class taught by Philip Rieff.

He was a twenty-eight year old expert on human society and social relationships. The two were married in nineteen fifty, ten days after they first met. Susan was seventeen years old. The couple moved to Boston, Massachusetts. In nineteen fifty-two, they had a son, David. He grew up to become a writer and the editor of his mother's works.

VOICE ONE:

Susan Sontag completed two master's degrees from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The first was in English; the second was in philosophy. She also began a doctorate⁷ program in religion at Oxford⁸ University in England. However, she never completed that program.

Susan and Philip ended their marriage in nineteen fifty-eight. Several months later, Susan moved with her son to New York City. She held several jobs teaching at universities and writing.

VOICE TWO:

Susan Sontag began her professional life writing creative literature. She published her first book in nineteen sixty-three. It was an experimental novel called The Benefactor⁹. It examined dreams and how people think. Four years later, she published her second novel, called Death Kit¹⁰. The story included sharp criticism of the United States involvement in the Vietnam War.

Sontag wrote several books of creative literature. Yet, she became famous for her critical essays that examined different kinds of social and artistic¹¹ issues. She wrote serious studies about popular art forms. She wrote essays about books, movies and photography. She also wrote essays about sickness.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen sixty-four, she wrote an essay called Notes on Camp. It was an immediate¹² success that made her famous. Camp is a form of art or popular culture that is humorous because it is purposely bad, false or common. In the essay, Sontag argued that a piece of art may be bad yet considered good if it creates emotional feelings in the person looking at it. The essay also included the idea about popular culture that something can be so bad it is good. Notes on Camp is still widely read today.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen sixty-nine, Susan Sontag wrote The Style of Radical¹³ Will. It explored modern culture including drugs, film and music. She once said it took between nine months to a year to write one thirty-page essay. Her collection of six essays about photography as an art form took five years to write.

On Photography was published in nineteen seventy-seven. It received the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. Her essays explored the value of the photographic image and the act of picture taking in modern culture. Photographs, she wrote, have shaped how people see the world. She wrote that photographs make us unable to sympathize with human suffering.

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VOICE ONE:

In the nineteen-seventies, Susan Sontag learned she had breast cancer. Doctors did not expect her to survive. However, she went through a series of difficult treatments and she survived. Her experience with the disease became the subject of one of her most famous works. Illness as Metaphor¹⁴ was published in nineteen seventy-eight. A metaphor is a word or phrase that usually means one thing and is used to mean another thing.

Illness as Metaphor is a critical study of modern life. Sontag argued that modern culture creates myths or stories about sickness. She also criticized the language that people use when they talk about sickness 鈥?such as battling a disease or the war on cancer. Sontag felt these terms made sick people feel responsible for their condition. Her book gave readers the power to demand more information from doctors.

Ten years later, she extended her opinions to the disease AIDS. Her short story How We Live Now was published in nineteen eighty-six in the New Yorker magazine. Her book AIDS and its Metaphors¹⁵ was published two years later. It was about the social and personal effects of the disease.

Susan Sontag was also politically active. During the late nineteen eighties, she served as president of the American group of an international writers' organization. She led a number of campaigns to support oppressed and imprisoned¹⁶ writers around the world.

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VOICE TWO:

In her later life, Susan Sontag grew tired of writing essays and critical studies. In nineteen ninety-two she wrote a historical love story. The novel, called The Volcano Lover, spent two months on the New York Times list of best-selling books. The story is about an eighteenth century British diplomat¹⁷ in Italy, his wife and her famous lover.

In two thousand, Sontag was accused of copying the work of someone else in her final book, called In America. She strongly denied the accusations¹⁸. In America is based on the life of a nineteenth century Polish actress. The actress moves to the United

States and tries to establish a perfect community in California. The novel received a National Book Award.

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VOICE ONE:

Public reaction to Sontag's writings was often divided. At times, her essays angered readers. For example, she once praised the communist societies of Cuba and North Korea. Years later, she denounced communism as a form of oppression.

After the terrorist attacks against the United States in two thousand one, Sontag wrote an article in the New Yorker magazine critical of American policies. She wrote that the terrorist attacks were the result of some American alliances and actions. She also wrote that the attackers should not be considered weak because they were willing to die. Many people criticized the article. Sontag later apologized for her comments.

Her last book was Regarding the Pain of Others, published in two thousand three. It was a long essay on the imagery of war and disaster. One of her last published essays was called Regarding the Torture of Others. She wrote it in two thousand four in reaction to the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison.

VOICE TWO:

Susan Sontag received many awards in the United States and from other countries. Israel, Germany and Spain honored her with awards. In two thousand four, two days after her death, the mayor of Sarajevo announced the city would name a street after her. The mayor called her a writer and a humanist who actively¹⁹ took part in the creation of the history of Sarajevo and Bosnia.

Susan Sontag was different from other social critics and intellectuals. She often appeared on television. She made public statements. She appeared in films and in advertisements. Susan Sontag died of leukemia in New York City in two thousand four. She was seventy-one years old.

One critic praised Susan Sontag's writing even though he said he often disagreed with what she wrote. He said, She showed you things you had not seen before. She had a way of reopening questions.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written and produced by Jill Moss. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for People in America in VOA Special English.

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

7 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

8 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

9 benefactor   

n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人

参考例句：

• The chieftain of that country is disguised as a benefactor this time. 那个国家的首领这一次伪装出一副施恩者的姿态。
• The first thing I did, was to recompense my original benefactor, my good old captain. 我所做的第一件事, 就是报答我那最初的恩人, 那位好心的老船长。

10 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

11 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

14 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

15 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

16 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

17 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

18 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

19 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。