Celebrity. Andrea McDonnell
CELEBRITY
CRITICAL CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
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Founding Editors: Sarah Banet-Weiser and Kent A. Ono
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Commodity Activism: Cultural Resistance in Neoliberal Times
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Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11
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Visualizing Atrocity: Arendt, Evil, and the Optics of Thoughtlessness
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The Makeover: Reality Television and Reflexive Audiences
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Authentic™: The Politics of Ambivalence in a Brand Culture
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Technomobility in China: Young Migrant Women and Mobile Phones
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Love and Money: Queers, Class, and Cultural Production
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Cached: Decoding the Internet in Global Popular Culture
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Black Television Travels: African American Media around the Globe
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Citizenship Excess: Latino/as, Media, and the Nation
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Feeling Mediated: A History of Media Technology and Emotion in America
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The Post-Racial Mystique: Media and Race in the Twenty-First Century
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Making Media Work: Cultures of Management in the Entertainment Industries
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Dot-Com Design: The Rise of a Useable, Social, Commercial Web
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Postracial Resistance: Black Women, Media, and the Uses of Strategic Ambiguity
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The Identity Trade: Selling Privacy and Reputation Online
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Celebrity: A History of Fame
Susan J. Douglas and Andrea McDonnell
Celebrity
A History of Fame
Susan J. Douglas and Andrea McDonnell
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
© 2019 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Douglas, Susan J. (Susan Jeanne), 1950– author. | McDonnell, Andrea M., author.
Title: Celebrity : a history of fame / Susan J. Douglas and Andrea McDonnell.
Description: New York : New York University Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018030568| ISBN 9781479852437 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781479862030 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Celebrities. | Fame. | Social influence. | Social status. | Mass media—Social aspects. | Popular culture.
Classification: LCC HM1176 .D68 2019 | DDC 302/.13—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030568
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Also available as an ebook
For Paddy Scannell, teacher, scholar, mentor, friend
CONTENTS
2. The Rise of Mass Culture and the Production of Celebrities
3. Silver Screens and Their Stars
4. Radio: The Stars in Our Homes
5. TV and the Need for Familiarity