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A review by kevin_shepherd
Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors by Susan Sontag
5.0
"Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place."
Sontag's purpose here, in these two essays, is practical. Having her own bout with cancer (boxing metaphor not withstanding) gave her enormous insight. The trappings of equating serious, debilitating illness with superfluous jargon can have very real consequences. For instance, wherein metaphors become myths people can become irrationally fearful and are inhibited from seeking early or effective treatment. Metaphors can imply punishment, or embarrassment, or hopelessness. AIDS, for example, is a disease, not a curse.
Illnesses like tuberculosis and cholera and cancer and HIV have all been stigmatized at some point in time. Historically, cancer diagnosis was sometimes shared with the immediate family but withheld from the patient. An AIDs diagnosis, at the other extreme, was often shared with the patient but withheld from friends and family. For many, this represented a social death that preceded the physical one.
Sontag's point here is crucial, there is plenty for patients to deal with without saddling them with socio-political stigma, or ladling out helpings of guilt and shame.
Sontag's purpose here, in these two essays, is practical. Having her own bout with cancer (boxing metaphor not withstanding) gave her enormous insight. The trappings of equating serious, debilitating illness with superfluous jargon can have very real consequences. For instance, wherein metaphors become myths people can become irrationally fearful and are inhibited from seeking early or effective treatment. Metaphors can imply punishment, or embarrassment, or hopelessness. AIDS, for example, is a disease, not a curse.
Illnesses like tuberculosis and cholera and cancer and HIV have all been stigmatized at some point in time. Historically, cancer diagnosis was sometimes shared with the immediate family but withheld from the patient. An AIDs diagnosis, at the other extreme, was often shared with the patient but withheld from friends and family. For many, this represented a social death that preceded the physical one.
Sontag's point here is crucial, there is plenty for patients to deal with without saddling them with socio-political stigma, or ladling out helpings of guilt and shame.