The construction of the writing self in Susan Sontag’s 1964–1980 diaries

Abstract

Many readers and scholars who endeavour to read and study the modern critic, novelist, essayist and film producer Susan Sontag, have noted the unity and similarity of voice and tone in her work. Regardless of the multitude of subjects, issues, debates and opinions which she shared and argued, one cannot help but note the uniqueness that exists within the writing, at times conveyed with assertion and fierceness, yet with an originality of style and and an extensive knowledge of modern culture which is unprecedented. A writer who does not follow the consciousness of the majority of ideas in her own time, yet challenges even her own ideas and concepts at times to reveal universal truths. The purpose of this study is to critically explore the modes of expression employed by Sontag in her diaries and analyse a portion of the multitude of writing left behind by this prominent author in order to further understand and shed more light upon her published literary works. The focus of the dissertation will be textual analysis of the diaries and their relationship to the construction of the authorial self. Biographical elements will feature as a backdrop to the analysis of the development of her writing. The dissertation will look at how Sontag explores and processes autobiographical elements in her journals and how these relate to her other work. The dissertation will show that the journals, in many ways, prove to be useful for Sontag in developing both her writing and thinking.