The fact that films have not been overrun by interpreters is in part due simply to the newness of cinema as an art.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
From our vantage point, 50 years later, we can say she was correct. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open any newspaper or go to a film blog or find an academic journal of film studies. Cinema gets dissected through interpretation as much as any other art form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sontag’s Solution Against Interpretation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n She ends the essay with a solution to this problem of over-interpretation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commentary and criticism are both possible and necessary. We need to switch from our obsession with content and talk more about form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She points to Barthes and others for people who have given solid formal analysis. We could also try to “reveal the sensuous surface of art without mucking about in it.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can focus on description rather than on what you think the description means.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen we interpret, we take the sensory experience for granted. The purpose of art is to be experienced, not over-analyzed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our task is to cut back content so that we can see the thing at all. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The goal of criticism should be to make works of art more real to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The function of criticism should be to show how it is what it is, even that it is what it is, rather than to show what it means.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
My Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Now that I’ve summarized the essay, I’ll comment on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think this is in some sense an overreaction or maybe even a straw man argument. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, Hirsch, who values the author’s intent, would probably say that if the author intended for the work to be a purely visceral experience with no excess symbolism in it, then to read that symbolism in it would be an invalid interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More specifically, genre matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some genres call for detailed, complicated interpretation and some call for no interpretation. Sontag’s essay seems to call for a complete rejection of interpretation whereas the other side seems to argue that if you want to interpret, then here are some tools for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe this is the 50-year gap, but I don’t know anyone that calls for always interpreting all the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even the most analytic of critics would admit that it is perfectly valid to just experience a work sometimes. So, I guess I’m somewhat confused at what this essay is really arguing against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, I fully agree that we often over-analyze and reach for interpretations without first experiencing a work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I absolutely hate the question: what is that about? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Romance novels can be about something. <\/li> A TV sitcom can be about something (or in a particularly famous case about nothing). <\/li> Essays can be about something. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nGreat art stops being art if you try to reduce it to some five-sentence plotline.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe thing that it is about is not the thing that makes it worth experiencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interpretation is an act of violence against the artist. At least that’s what Susan Sontag believed. Read on to find out why and my thoughts on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amindformadness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sontag-against-interpretation.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10839"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11537,"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10839\/revisions\/11537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}