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This blog was created by and for students in an Introduction to Cultural Studies class at the University of Washington. Through an investigation of urban experience and representation--in theory, in graphic novels and in our own "readings" of Seattle's University District--we considered the formation and history of cultural studies as an (anti)discipline, with a special emphasis on the questions, "What does cultural studies do, and how do you do cultural studies?"

If you'd like to know more about the class, the blog or our U-District artifact project, please contact Gabrielle Dean: gnodean@u.washington.edu.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

History of Origins: Media and Science

Celebrity is a term that is commonly associated with the media today. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to look up the word. 
1) Term from New Keywords, "celebrity" (pages 27-28, paraphrased):
A particular kind of cultural figure - usually emerging from the sports or entertainment industries.

Celebrities:
• Their private lives are more interesting than their professional lives
• May be "famous for being famous", (Boorstin, 1973) i.e., no talent
• May receive more attention than appropriate
• Epitome of of "inauthenticity" of mass-media culture
• The product of the mass media
• May erupt into mass culture and disappear as quickly
• May be objects of scorn as easily as good fortune or abilities
Timeline
• 17C - "celebrity" referred to observance of rites and ceremonies
• 19C - newspapers cultivated conditions for celebrity
• 20C - "celebrity" refers to someone "much talked about" - where fame is of questionable legitimacy, spawned by the advent of movies and television
• 20C - mostly referred to as "stars" -- famous for achievements that were deserved and appropriate

The shift from "star" to "celebrity" sheds the appropriate significance; they are created/produced.

Celebrity is now so pervasive that it raises questions about its cultural function, and is a highly ambiguous concept.

2) Link to Wikipedia, Laura Mulvey:

3) Link to The UNC Press, Janice Radway:
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