Description
Ours is the age of celebrity. An inescapable aspect of daily life in our media-saturated societies of the twenty-first century, celebrity is celebrated for its infinite plasticity and glossy seductions. But there is also a darker side. Celebrity culture is littered from end to end with addictions, pathologies, neuroses, even suicides. Why, as a society, are we held in thrall to celebrity? What is the power of celebrity in a world of increasing consumerism, individualism and globalization?
Routledge Handbook of Celebrity Studies, edited by acclaimed social theorist Anthony Elliott, offers a remarkably clear overview of the analysis of celebrity in the social sciences and humanities, and in so doing seeks to develop a new agenda for celebrity studies. The key theories of celebrity, ranging from classical sociological accounts to critical theory, and from media studies to postmodern approaches, are drawn together and critically appraised. There are substantive chapters looking at fame, renown and celebrity in terms of the media industries, pop music, the makeover industries, soap stars, fans and fandom as well as the rise of non-Western forms of celebrity. The Handbook also explores in detail the institutional aspects of celebrity, and especially new forms of mediated action and interaction. From Web 3.0 to social media, the culture of celebrity is fast redefining the public political sphere.
Throughout this volume, there is a strong emphasis on interdisciplinarity with chapters covering sociology, cultural studies, psychology, politics and history. Written in a clear and direct style, this handbook will appeal to a wide undergraduate audience. The extensive references and sources will direct students to areas of further study.
Table of Contents
Part I: Theories and Concepts of Celebrity
1. Celebrity and Contemporary Culture: A Critical Analysis of Some Theoretical Accounts, Anthony Elliott and Ross Boyd
2. Celebrity’s Histories, Robert van Krieken
3. Celebrity in the Contemporary Era, Hannah Hamad
4. Postmodern Theories of Celebrity, Lee Barron
5. Cultural studies and the Politics of Celebrity: From Powerless Elite to Celebristardom, Barry King
6. Celebrity and Religion, Kathryn Lofton
Part II: The Culture of Celebrity
7. The Death of Celebrity: Global Grief, Manufactured Mourning, Anthony Elliott
8. Soap Stars, C. Lee Harrington
9. Celebrity, Fans and Fandom, Nick Stevenson
10. Celebrity in the Social Media Age: Renegotiating the Public and the Private, Anne Jerslev and Mette Mortensen
Part III: Non-Western Celebrity
11. Victims, Bollywood and the Construction of a Cele-meme, Pramod K Nayar
12. K-pop Idols, Artificial Beauty and Affective Fan Relationships in South Korea, Joanna Elfving-Hwang
13. ‘Idols’ in Japan, Asia and the World, Patrick W. Galbraith
14. Celebrity and Power in South America, Nahuel Ribke
15 Celebrity Philanthropy in China: Rethinking Cultural Studies’ ‘Big Citizen’ Critique, Elaine Jeffreys
Part IV: The Conduits of Celebrity
16. Celebrity in the Age of Global Communications Networks, Olivier Driessens
17. Celebrity involvement: Parasocial interaction, identification and worship, William J. Brown
18. Celebrity, Reputational Capital and the Media Industries, Philip Drake
19. Human Rights, Democracy and Celebrity, Mark Wheeler
20. Drastic Plastic: Identity in The Age of Makeover, Anthony Elliott
21. The Great Gomez: John Astin in Conversation with Anthony Elliott
