Talk:Susan Sontag

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A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on December 28, 2020 and December 28, 2024.

occupation in the lead

Instead of this,

Susan Lee Sontag (/ˈsɒntæɡ/; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, philosopher, and political activist.

I propose,

Susan Lee Sontag (/ˈsɒntæɡ/; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual.

Although she did teach philosophy for a period, she quit that to pursue her creative and critical writing. Did she particularly identify with the profession, does anyone know? (I cannot get either the link or its archived version to load.) I think that she is much more commonly referred to as a critic than as a philosopher. As to "public intellectual" rather than "political activist", I just think this better captures the breadth of her political engagement, which seems from the article to mostly involve signing petitions and writing editorials, not the sort of protesting commonly associated with the term "activism"—although I would frame the question as being of which is more accurate, as both are supported by the article.

All thoughts welcome!

Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 21:06, 23 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

"Truly understand" language unencyclopedic?

I understand that this is (likely) reflecting Susan Sontag's writing on the topic: "Sontag also had a relationship with the writer Joseph Brodsky, who made her truly understand the anti-communism of the writers persecuted by the Soviet regime, whom she had read and in some cases even known, without really understanding them." But I have a feeling it sounds too unencyclopedic. To say someone truly understands a topic is almost like saying someone is 'liberated' - it is a very objective statement, with content that is nevertheless epistemologically inaccessible/unverifiable, and contains significant presumptions about what is possible. Should the wording be changed to reflect that this statement is from the voice of Sontag? Peace and Passion ☮ ("I'm listening....") 01:35, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Peace and Passion,

It's great practice to check in on the talk page before editing an article you haven't work on. With a minor edit like this, however, I would encourage you to consider WP:BOLDly make the change yourself being sure to leave a brief edit description. If anyone has an issue with it, they'll revert, and then you can come here to discuss. (See WP:CYCLE)..

I made an edit to address the issue you flagged, but feel free to tweak it/change it if you have something you like better.

Cheers, Patrick J. Welsh (talk) 20:17, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

We can safely call her a racist, right?

@Patrick Welsh hey you undid my edit where I added that she was a racist. Me personally if someone said that unapologetically about my people and culture (asian) I'd be pretty mad. Can you tell me why? Skellyret (talk) 19:24, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

See MOS:RACIST for explanation of contentious labels. There isn't even any discussion including the word 'racist' in the body either, and the lead is a summary of the body WP:LEADFOLLOWSBODY. Zenomonoz (talk) 05:50, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Oh ok fair enough I guess Skellyret (talk) 09:56, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 24 July 2025

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Change "===White civilization as a cancer===" to "Racism."

REASONING: The vast majority of controversy sections on Wikipedia, IF THEY INCLUDE slurs against an entire "race" or "ethnic group", are simply labelled racism. It seems very strange not to do so here. Describing an entire race as analogous to the most deadly disease in human history is UNAMBIGUOUSLY racist and for the sake of consistency and accuracy, should be labelled as such. 212.186.65.8 (talk) 17:06, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{Edit semi-protected}} template. — 🪫Volatile ^{📲T | ⌨️C} 17:26, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'd leave it as is. This claim is at odds with the enthusiasm with which she typically celebrates white or European culture. Also, the current header is more descriptive. --Patrick 🐈‍⬛ (talk) 17:48, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]