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brnineworms's review
medium-paced
2.5
“I am strongly drawn to Camp, and almost as strongly offended by it.”
Trying to explain camp is like trying to explain a joke or a magic trick – it’s awkward and deflating and something of a faux pas. That’s not to say Sontag had nothing insightful to offer. I liked the idea of a continuity of Dandyism and Camp with Oscar Wilde standing as a transitional figure, the idea of “Being-as-Playing-a-Role”, and of irony triumphing over tragedy. But then that’s all she has: ideas. From the title I should have known to expect only Notes, but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that Sontag didn’t take this sketch and use it as the basis for something more refined. Notes on Camp feels incomplete. I don’t quite understand why it was published, what it’s trying to say, or who it’s for. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it mention of homosexuality left me particularly perplexed. Sure, this was written in the 1960s so I imagine there was some (self?-)censorship involved, but even so it just feels ridiculous for her to have written an essay about camp and disregarded queer culture almost entirely.
This book paired the titular essay with “One Culture and the New Sensibility,” also by Sontag, which was just as underwhelming, if not moreso. I think it was about the artificial division between so-called high and low culture, but I’m not 100% sure because it all seemed quite vague and wishy-washy.
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Classism
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