"In bringing biography and celebrity together, the essays in Making Stars interrogate contemporary and current understandings of each. Although biography was not invented in the eighteenth century, the period saw the emergence of works that focus on individuals who are interesting as much, if not more, for their everyday, lived experience than for their status or actions. At the same time, celebrity emerged as public fascination for the private lives of publicly visible individuals. Biography and celebrity are mutually constitutive, but in complex and varied ways that this volume unpacks. Contributors to this volume present us a picture of eighteenth-century celebrity that was mediated across multiple sites, demonstrating that eighteenth-century celebrity culture in Britain was more pervasive, diverse and, in many ways, more egalitarian, than previously supposed"--
This work unites contributors in 18th-century studies, 18th-century literature, British literature, English, and art history to examine the balance of power between fans, celebrities, media, the legal system, and other institutional forces in 18th-century Britain. Drawing on Sharon Marcus’s theorization of celebrity, audience, and media, as well as the field of 18th-century celebrity studies generally, they analyze instances of ‘media celebrity’ in 18th-century British media and culture, looking at those who received both earned and accidental acclaim, including socialites, criminals, and even animals. Part 1 looks at biographical representations on the stage and on the page, while Part 2 points to the role of marketing in the construction of celebrities. Part 3 considers the impact of trials and verdicts in courts of public opinion as well as courts of law. Part 4 looks at individual bodies as symbols in the public sphere, and Part 5 delves into celebrity afterlives. The book contains b&w historical illustrations, plus photos of sites. Distributed by Rutgers University Press. Annotation ©2022 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
In bringing biography and celebrity together, the essays in Making Stars interrogate contemporary and current understandings of each. Although biography was not invented in the eighteenth century, the period saw the emergence of works that focus on individuals who are interesting as much, if not more, for their everyday, lived experience than for their status or actions. At the same time, celebrity emerged as public fascination for the private lives of publicly visible individuals. Biography and celebrity are mutually constitutive, but in complex and varied ways that this volume unpacks. Contributors to this volume present us a picture of eighteenth-century celebrity that was mediated across multiple sites, demonstrating that eighteenth-century celebrity culture in Britain was more pervasive, diverse and, in many ways, more egalitarian, than previously supposed.
Making Stars provides multiple perspectives on the simultaneous emergence of modern forms of life writing and celebrity culture in eighteenth-century Britain. Crossing multiple genres and media, contributors reveal the complex and varied ways in which these modern ways of thinking about individual identity mutually conditioned their emergence during this formative period.
