Against Interpretation: And Other Essays
In a culture whose already classical dilemma is the hypertrophy of the intellect at the expense of energy and sensual capability, interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art. Even more. It is the revenge of the intellect upon the world. To interpret is to impoverish, to deplete the world—in order to set up a shadow world of “meanings.” ... See more
Susan Sontag • "Against Interpretation"
Agalia Tan added
Susan Sontag cited by Miller: “What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more.... In place of a hermeneutics of art we need an erotics of art.”
L. M. Sacasas • Readings and Resources
Andreas Vlach added
By analyzing the content of art rather than merely experiencing it, we “set up a shadow world of ‘meanings’”—everything necessarily pointing at something else. In order to liberate ourselves from this diminishing way of seeing, she suggests valuing transparence instead. “Transparence means experiencing the luminousness of the thing in itself, of th... See more
#180: Against Self-Analysis
I went into Susan Sontag’s “Against Interpretation” thinking we would disagree, but her take is more nuanced. She’s against interpreting an artist’s intentions to make it fit your own narrative; but she’s for analysis of the thing itself (it’s form and the sensation it evokes). By the end, she pleas for a “dictionary of forms,” which feels like the
... See moreMichael Dean added
Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience. All the conditions of modern life - its material plenitude, its sheer crowdedness - conjoin to dull our sensory faculties.... What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more
Martin Weigel • The subtle art of stepping into an idea — Martin Weigel
Agalia Tan added
— Susan Sontag
