Art422 | Susan Sontan. “Illness as Metaphor”, 1978.

“Susan Sontag alone on a bed. N.Y.C. 1965.” Photograph by Diane Arbus"

https://nyti.ms/2wCqscZ

Health is a topic that has been used by many artists in various aspects of their practices throughout history. Providing inspiration for all sorts of outcomes: writing, performance, sculpture, western medical practice/ developments and many more.

One artist who used the theme “health”, is Susan Sontan. “Illness as Metaphor”, 1978, explores the idea that everyone gets unwell at some point in their lives. Her writing also speaks on the assumptions and reactions made by those in “the kingdom of the well” about those residing in “the kingdom of the sick”.

Her writing implies that the entrance to the kingdom of the ill is surrounded by  “lurid metaphors”. Sontan further explains how these metaphors promote an unhealthy mindset/ attitude towards illness, that not acknowledging these metaphors “is the healthiest way of being ill”. 

Moving on, she next compares the expectation on disease to have a cure. Certain diseases without cures are “mysterious”, Understanding and actions responding to them are just ‘best guesses’, “the ministrations of doctors remained so ineffective”. This quotation is relating to Tuberculosis, a once fatal diagnosis. With advancements of medical research there are now effective treatments, and now “it’s cancer’s turn to be the disease that doesn’t knock before it enters”. 

The mystery of ‘incurable’ diseases increases the physical and mental burden felt by those diagnosed. Suffering, “shunned”, “the object of practices of decontamination”. Without knowledge people may  fear/ expect the worst of a disease. 

The concept of being “taboo”, and acting secretive is connected to terminal diseases. In the films “Stendhal’s Armance”, and “The Vital Balance”, the featured diseases are Cancer and Tuberculosis. The names of these diseases, if spoken, are feared to worsen one's physical condition and drastically shorten one's life expectancy. Due to how certain diseases are represented, “cancer = death”, people can be reluctant to share/ accept their medical status. Some people clearly feel safety and security in secrecy. Changing the dominant narrative on such diseases could change how people with them are treated: physically, socially and personally. Changing to a positive narrative could change fear to hope.