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Susan Sontag
Life Time
16 January 1933 - 28 December 2004
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Born January 16, 1933 in New York City, she spent her childhood and adolescence in Tucson, Arizona and Los Angeles. In 1948-1949 she studied at the University of California at Berkeley, then at the University of Chicago (graduated in 1951 with a bachelor of arts degree). Later she studied English literature at Harvard University, where in 1954 she received a Master of Arts degree, and a year later a Master of Philosophy degree. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, she taught philosophy at a number
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Born January 16, 1933 in New York City, she spent her childhood and adolescence in Tucson, Arizona and Los Angeles. In 1948-1949 she studied at the University of California at Berkeley, then at the University of Chicago (graduated in 1951 with a bachelor of arts degree). Later she studied English literature at Harvard University, where in 1954 she received a Master of Arts degree, and a year later a Master of Philosophy degree. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, she taught philosophy at a number of colleges and universities in the United States, including City College and Sarah Lawrence College of New York University and Columbia University.
She gained fame after publication in the journal "Partizan Review" article "Notes on Camp" (1964). By that time, she was already the author of a small volume and exquisite style of the novel “The Benefactor” (1963), as well as many articles published in the most prestigious American journals and had reader resonance. From articles on so-called rejected artists, Sontag moved on to theoretical works on the purpose of contemporary art and on the connections between art and criticism.
Two collections of essays “Against Interpretation and Other Essays” (1966) and “Examples of reckless will” (1969) strengthened Sontag’s reputation. In the early 1970s, a serious illness that almost led to death, long interrupted her writing career. After recovering, Sontag wrote two of her most famous books, On Photography (1977) and Disease as a Metaphor (1978). For the first book Sontag was awarded the National Prize of the circle of literary critics in the field of criticism for 1978. In the same 1978, Sontag released a collection of short stories “I and so on.” In 1980 – another, “Under the sign of Saturn”, in 1982, a volume of her Chosen One with a foreword by Elizabeth Hardwicke was published. In 1989, AIDS and its metaphors were published.
Among her works are the novels “A fan of volcanoes” (1992) and “In America” (2000). Alice in Bed, written in 1992, was first staged in 2000. Together with photographer Annie Leibovich, she published the book Women (2000). The sontag belongs to the scripts of the films "Duet for Cannibals" (1969), "Brother Karl" (1971), "Promised Countries" (1974) and "Trip without a Guide" (1983). Sontag is a winner of many awards, the owner of honorary titles. In 1993, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.