Taking Fame to Market - On the Pre-History and Post-History of Hollywood Stardom

"The study of stars and celebrities is awash with enticing terms that compound the magic and mystery of their luminous subjects. Taking Fame to Market is the first critical exploration of the relationship between stardom as a form of popular heroism and as a commodity produced by capitalist enterprise. Beginning with an examination of the first star, David Garrick, King charts the representation of stars through a line of development that ends with the 'pure' celebrity of contemporary times, as exemplified by Lady Gaga. His case studies, which discuss the relationships of stars and celebrities with their fans, are placed in their social context and raise pertinent questions about the likely effects on audience perception of fame. King applies a new grammar of stardom to explore the differences between the stars of yesteryear and today's 'superstars', who are famous more from what they appear to be than for what they do. This phenomenon has been noted before, but the aim of this book is to explain it"--

List of contents

List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Introduction 1. From Custom to Price 2. The Formation of Stardom 3. Garrick as a Personage 4. The Descent from Stardom as Personage 5. Writing the Stars 6. The High Tide of Biography 7. The Rise of Autography 8. The End of Seeming Notes Index

About the author

Barry King is Professor of Communications at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.

Product details

• Authors: B King, B. King, Barry King
• Publisher: Palgrave UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 04.11.2014
• EAN: 9781137344274
• ISBN: 978-1-137-34427-4
• No. of pages: 263
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Photography, film, video, TV; Social sciences, law, business > Media, communication > General, dictionaries; B, Cultural History, Media Studies, Culture, Sociology of Culture, Performing Arts, Communication, The arts: general issues, Arts, Social & cultural history, Film History, Media and Communication, Social groups: religious groups & communities, Civilization—History, Palgrave Media & Culture Collection, Film and Television Studies, Film and TV History, Screen Studies, Motion pictures—History, Motion pictures and television