503 About The Author - SONTAG/ SHAKESPEARE/ ADAMS

From studying the list of authors, I feel that I have chosen three that will provide me with a broad base of research that is brought together by an underlying theme of social criticism. Whilst the issue of social critique is present in very different ways, for Sontag it is through her social and cultural observations, for Adams, his awareness of man's anxiety and social instability and for Shakespeare, his absolute criticism of social codes and institutionalised rules, it seems that these authors will requite my interests in observation and the sensitivity of humans.


SUSAN SONTAG - context/legacy/interests/texts
As a writer who predominately observes and criticises visual cultures and ideologies, Sontag is the most complex of my three choices. Studying Sontag would require an investment in abstract concepts and ideas that may revolve around less immediate situations.

Writing in the mid 20th century, her work will no doubt have been informed by many societal changes and be very much moulded by developing ideas of culture. Sontag's aesthetic observations are most of interest to me through her criticism of taste but to focus on this in 503 may be to overlap too much with study of Sontag's writing in COP.

As an activist, Sontag's writing can cover some very evocative and controversial issues which could be testing to my illustration practice. How can I communicate controversial ideas that are not my own through universal, sensitive images?

My primary interests in social criticism drive my interest researching the following texts:
-The Double Standard of Ageing, 1972
-On Photography, 1977
-Illness as Metaphor, 1978


WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - context/legacy/interests/texts
As a Jacobean playwright, Shakespeare's plays cover many subjects and contexts, but for the purpose of this project, I wish to focus on his comedies. I feel there to be too much existing visual material surrounding his tragedies and his histories seem too direct. Shakespeare's comedies offer a satirical social criticism alongside a sensitivity to the comic elements of human beings. 

As entertainment for the courts, his work can be very formulaic and traditional of the Jacobean era, but these comedies also pioneer a different level of humour. Often farcical, his plays can be very clumsy but they also address many social codes which for me requites an interest in social criticism.

I am looking to explore the comedic and mischievous theatrical devices he employs and consider how this could drive playful illustrations that universalise his writing.

Texts to consider:
-The Comedy of Errors
-Twelfth Night
-A Midsummer Night's Dream

I may also study some of the Globe on Screen stage performances as these would aid my understanding of theatrical devices in line with comedic elements.


DOUGLAS ADAMS - context/legacy/interests/texts
Adam's as a satirist and essayist seems to commonly explore hypothetical entities and nonsense comedic situations. Working with fiction, his work naturally invites hypothetical situations, but Adam's work seems to enjoy a saturation of humour. I am aware of his environmental and conservational concerns and I wonder how this may have informed some of his texts.

I am curious to explore his entirely fictional works as these seem so concerned with hypotheses and absolute nonsense. My emerging practice already operates within a humorous tone of voice and I would be interested to extend this through existing narratives. 'The Meaning of Liff' particularly interests me as I feel that Adam's definitions invite some diagrammatic or typological images which would develop the complexity of my image making.

Texts to explore:
-The Meaning of Liff, 1983
-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1973
-The Salmon of Doubt, 2002