Society of the Spectacle
December 31, 2004
Over the course of the week, as the casualty count from the Indian Ocean tsunami mounted, we were inundated by images of catastrophe on an epic scale. It was a reminder of how small the world has become, how clearly we see each other and how clearly others around the world see us. A few years ago, the great culture critic Susan Sontag, who died this week, argued for more representation of suffering – not less. Brooke weighs Sontag’s argument and what it requires of us.
