Saturn

Under the Sign of Saturn

This book is one of Sontag's most famous collections of critical writing, including seven of her most important pieces published between 1972 and 1980. In it, Sontag reminisces about Goodman, discusses Artaud's "theater of cruelty," analyzes Canetti's religiosity, discusses Barthes's aesthetic consciousness, savors Benjamin's melancholic poetry, and discusses the films of Riefenstahl and Syberberg.
The title of this collection is taken from an essay of the same name in the book, which draws inspiration from astrology. According to the subject of the essay, Benjamin, Saturn is "a planet of twists and turns, delays and stops." Sontag then used the term "Saturnian temperament" to describe the spiritual outlook of thinkers like Benjamin. Besides Benjamin, this collection also offers in-depth critiques of the works of thinkers and artists such as Artaud, Barthes, and Canetti, whom she considered role models and colleagues, vividly painting their spiritual portraits. Sontag's critiques of others thus become a kind of spiritual autobiography of herself.

2020-06-01

上海译文出版社

256

9787532784233