Regarding the Pain of Others

From Goya's Disasters of War to news footage and photographs of the conflicts in Vietnam, Rwanda and Bosnia, pictures have been charged with inspiring dissent, fostering violence or instilling apathy in us, the viewer.

Informationen zum Autor Susan Sontag Klappentext A brilliant analysis of the use of images of war, and society's reaction towards them. Discusses a wide range of areas, from Goya to news footage. Zusammenfassung Regarding the Pain of Others is Susan Sontag's searing analysis of our numbed response to images of horror. 'A coruscating sermon on how we picture suffering' The New York Times What is the purpose of images of pain and suffering? Can there be any real justification for the creation, and consumption, of such images? In this seminal volume, Susan Sontag examines the uses and meanings of images, from inspiring dissent to fostering violence to creating apathy. And through this lens she considers the nature of war, the limits of sympathy, and the obligations of conscience. 'A far-reaching set of ruminations [...] on what it means to be alive and alert in the twenty-first century' Independent 'Sontag is on top form: devastating' Los Angeles Times 'Simple, elegant, fiercely persuasive' Metro

Auteur

Susan Sontag was born in Manhattan in 1933 and studied at the universities of Chicago, Harvard and Oxford. Her non-fiction works include On Photography, Regarding the Pain of Others and At the Same Time. She was also the author of four novels, including The Volcano Lover and In America, as well as a collection of stories and several plays. She was awarded the Jerusalem Prize, and received the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. She died in December 2004.

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A brilliant analysis of the use of images of war, and society's reaction towards them. Discusses a wide range of areas, from Goya to news footage.

Résumé

Regarding the Pain of Others is Susan Sontag's searing analysis of our numbed response to images of horror.

'A coruscating sermon on how we picture suffering' The New York Times

What is the purpose of images of pain and suffering? Can there be any real justification for the creation, and consumption, of such images?

In this seminal volume, Susan Sontag examines the uses and meanings of images, from inspiring dissent to fostering violence to creating apathy. And through this lens she considers the nature of war, the limits of sympathy, and the obligations of conscience.

'A far-reaching set of ruminations [...] on what it means to be alive and alert in the twenty-first century' Independent

'Sontag is on top form: devastating' Los Angeles Times

'Simple, elegant, fiercely persuasive' Metro