Skip to content

Illness as metaphor

by Susan Sontag · 1978

Cover of Illness as metaphor
Popularity 74

In 1978, while recovering from cancer, Susan Sontag wrote Illness as metaphor, the celebrated essay on the invented and often punitive uses of illness in our culture. It was not surprising that a decade later, after the advent of AIDS, Sontag felt compelled to write a sequel that would counter the almost universal labeling of AIDS as a "plague". Published together in one volume these works are brimming with humane and original ideas about disease and the modern condition.

AIDS (Disease)Acquired Immunodeficiency SyndromeCancerCancer in literatureLiteratureMedicine in literatureMetaphorNeoplasmsReligious aspectsReligious aspects of CancerSocial aspectsSocial aspects of AIDS (Disease)