Against interpretation_ © SUSAN SONTAG A DELTA BOOKNote to the paperback edition ‘Twn articles and reviews collected here make up a good part of the criticism 1 wrote between 1962 and 1965, a sharply defined period in nny life, nearly 1962 I finished my first novel, The Benefactor, In ate 1965 I began a second novel. The energy, and the anxiety, that spilled ‘over into criticism had a beginning and an end, That period of search, reflection, and discovery already seemed somewhat remote at the time of the American publication of Against Interpretation and seems even more so now, a year later, asthe collection is about to be reissued ina paperback edition Although in these essays I do talk a great deal about particular works of art and, implicitly, about the tasks ofthe critic, am aware that litte of what is assembled in the book counts as criticism properil» Note tthe peperbockedtion si ew jes of jouralsn, mos of it coud pepe be cals critica} if that not oo grand aman. vas wen, wth psnonte pari, about problens aed for me by worse Im mln contemporary in dire gre: wand to cp tad ment, comedy is an experience of underinvolvement, of detach- ment, i “1 adore simple pleasures, they are the last refuge of the complex.” =A Woman of No Importance 61D mT and as the dandy is the 19th century's surrogate for the aristoomat in matters of cul- ture, s0 Camp is the modem dandyism. Camp is the answer to the problem: how to bea dandy in the age of mass culture. * Sarte’s glows on this i Sunt Genet it: “Elegance isthe quality of conduct which tansfons the greatest amount of beng to appeing Nolet on "Camp" + 289 46, The dandy was overbred. His posture was disdain, or else ‘ennui, He sought rare sensations, undefiled by mass appreciation. (Models: Des Essintes in Huysmans’ A Reboats, Marius the Bpicw rean, Valéry’s Monsieur Teste.) He was dedicated to “good taste.” ‘The connoisseur of Camp has found more ingenious pleasures Not in Latin poetry and rare wines and velvet jackets, but in the coarsest, commonest pleasures, in the arts of the masses. Mee use does not defile the objects of his pleasure, since he Teams to possess them in a rare way. Camp—Dandyism ia the age of mass cuture— 1akes no distinction between the unique object and the masspro- duced object. Camp taste transcends the nausea ofthe replica 47. Wilde himself isa transitional figure. ‘The man who, when he frst came to London, sported a velvet beret, lace shirts, velve- teen knee-breeches and black silk stockings, could never depart too far in his life from the pleasures of the oityle dandy; this con- servatisn is reected in The Picture of Dorian Gray. But many of his attitudes suggest something more modera. It was Wilde who formulated an important element of the Camp sensibility—the ivalence of all objects—when he announced his intention of ving up” to his blueand-white china, or declared that « doot- knob could be as admimble as a painting. When he proclaimed the importance of the necktie, the boutonniere, the chair, Wilde was anticipating the democratic esprit of Camp. 48. The oldstyle dandy hated vulgarity. The newstyle dandy, the lover of Camp, appreciates vulgarity, Where the dandy would be continually ofended or bored, the connoisseur of Camp is con: tinually amused, delighted. The dandy held a perfumed handker. chief to his nostrils and was liable to swoon; the connoisseur of Crap sniffs the stink and prides himself on he strong nerves 49. Tes a feat, of cours. A feat goaded on, in the lst analysis, by the threat of boredom. The relation between boredom and Camp taste cannot be overestimated. Camp taste is by its nature possible only in aluent societies, in societies or circles capable of experiencing the psychopathology of afluence.et interpretetion “What is abnormal in Life stands in normal relations to Art. It is the only thing in Life that stands in normal relations to Art.” —A Few Maxims forthe Instruction of the Over Educated 50, Aristocracy is a postion visd-vis culture (as well as vis@-vis, power), and the history of Camp taste is part ofthe history of snob taste, But since no authentic aristocrats in the old sense exist today to sponsor special tastes, who isthe bearer of this taste? Answer: ‘an improvised seltelected clas, mainly homosexuals, who const- ‘ute themselves as aristocrats of taste. 51, ‘The peculiar relation beween Camp taste and homosexuality has to be explained. While i's not true that Camp taste is homo- sexual taste, there is no doubt a peculiar afnity and overlap. Not all liberals are Jews, but Jews have shown a peculiar affinity for lib- ral and refomnist causes. So, not all homosexuals have Camp taste, But homosexual, by and latge, constitute the vangoard—and the ‘most articulate audienco—of Camp. (‘The analogy is not fivolously chosen, Jews and homosexuals are the outstanding creative minor- ties in contemporary urban culture. Creative, that is in the trust sense: they are creators of sensibilities, The two pioneering forces ‘of modern sensibility are Jewish moral seriousness and homosexual aesthetic an 52, The reason for the flourishing of the aristocratic posture mong homosexuals also seems to parallel the Jewish case, For every sensibility is self serving tothe group that promotes it. Jewish liberalism isa gesture of sltlegitimization, So is Camp taste, which definitely has something propagandist about it. Needles to sy, the propaganda operates in exactly the opposite direction. The Jews pinned their hopes for integrating into modern society on promot ing the moral sense. Homosexvals have pinned their integration into society on promoting the aesthetic sense, Camp isa solvent of morality, It neutralizes moral indignation, sponsors playfulness. 53. Nevertheless, even though homosexuals have been its van- guard, Camp taste is much more than homosexual taste. Obvi- ‘onsly, its metaphor of life as theater i peculaly suited as a just ‘ation and projection of a certain aspect of the situation of homo- sexual, (The Camp insistence on not being “serious,"on playing, Notes on “Comp” = 291 also connects with the homosexual’s desire to remain youthful.) ‘Yet one feels that if homosexuals hadn't mote or less invented Camp, someone else would. For the aristocratic posture with rcla- tion to culture cannot die, though it may persist only in increas- ingly arbitrary and ingenious ways, Camp is (to repeat) the rela. tiom to style in atime in which the adoption of style—as such—has Decome altogether questionable, (In the modern era, each new style, unless frankly anachronistic, has come on the scene as an antic style.) “One must ave a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing.” "T34. The periences of Camp are Based on the great discover that the sensibility of high elu has no monaaly = fe ot simply good taste that! eed, a good taste of bad taste (Genct tals tboat this in Our Lady ofthe Flowers.) The discovery ofthe good tate of bad taste can be very libeting, The man whe inst on high and serous pleasures is depriving himself of pleasure, he coutinaly restricts what he can enjoy inthe constant exercise of his good taste he will eventually price himself out of the market, so to speak. ere Camp taste supervenes upon good taste ata dasag and ity hedonism. It makes the man of good taste chee, where betore he ran the 1k of being chronically fasted. 1 god fx the igsation. 55,\Caimp taste i above at, mode of enjoyment \of appr tion— amp is gencrous. It wants to enjoy. It only e alice, cynicism. (Or, if it is cynicism, it’s not a ruthless sweet cynicism.) Carmp taste doesnt propose that it sin bad tate to be serous it doesnt sneer at somecne who siace being seriously dramatic. What it does isto find the success in certain passionate fares 56. Camp taste i a Kind of love, love for human nature. It - ‘thes, rather than jodges, the litle triumphs and ankwan inteash ties of “character”, Cannp taste identifies with what i ise =In conversation292 + Against interpretation foving. People who shar thing hey bel wc fecng (Hes ooe may compare Camp with much of Pop At whieh — when ite ot jt Canp-onbodies an attitade That rated But stil very diferent. Pep ast more ft and move dy, more seriou, nore detache, altimatly ni) 57. Camp tse nurses fal on the love that has. gone into cetin abet od pesooal sy, The sbeccs of is ewe he reason why such Kitch items as Peyton Pace (the bee) andthe Tishman Boiling erert Camp. a 58. ‘The ultimate Camp statement ]PY Fan Deion awa ‘Of cure on cat avay sy at. Only tae tain com Ions, those ich Ive edt etch in hee note sensibility are not laughing at the they're enjoying it. Camp is a tender (1964)