Understanding Celebrity

by Graeme Turner

`Graeme Turner is one of the leading figures in cultural studies today. When his gaze turns to celebrity, the result is a readable and compelling account of this most perplexing and infuriating of modern phenomena. Read on!′ - Toby Miller, New York University We cannot escape celebrity it is everywhere. So just what is the cultural function of celebrity? This is the first comprehensive overview of the production and consumption of celebrity from within cultural and media studies. The pervasive influence of contemporary celebrity, and the cultures it produces, has been widely noticed. Earlier studies, though, have tended to focus on the consumption of celebrity or on particular locations of celebrity - Hollywood, or the sports industries for instance. This book presents a broad survey across all media as well as a new synthesis of theoretical positions, that will be welcomed by all students of media and cultural studies. Among its attributes are the -It provides an overview and evaluation of the key debates surrounding the definition of celebrity, its history, and its social and cultural function. -It examines the `celebrity industries′: the PR and publicity structures that manufacture celebrity. -It looks at the cultural processes through which celebrity is consumed. -It draws examples from the full range of contemporary media - film, television, newspapers, magazines and the web.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural Studies

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Graeme Turner is an Australian professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland, Federation Fellow, Past President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Director of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, and Convenor of the ARC Cultural Research Network.

He is one of the key figures in the development of cultural and media studies in Australia. His work is used in many disciplines: cultural and media studies, communications, history, literary studies, and film and television studies. Turner's research interests include Australian film and media, issues in Australian Nationalism, popular culture, celebrity, and talkback radio. His current project investigates the role of television in a post-broadcast era increasingly dominated by new media formats such as the Internet.

Reviews

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

We live in strange times when celebrities (often as those who are famous for being famous) become heroes, and for those of us for whom middle age is no longer coming the cult of celebrity seems both odd and a sign that we have forgotten that celebrity is old hat. This book sets out to explore and unravel the cult of celebrity, and does so extremely well. Turner is well read and subtle in his deployment of contemporary social and cultural theory, and in recognising the need for good teacherly material careful and self-critical in his presentation. It is rare to find a book that so convincingly acts as both an introduction to a field and a reinterpretation of that area of study. Not only did I enjoy this, it is one of the essentials for reading in an upper level class I am developing in cultural activity in consumer society. Fabulous.

[Wendelle]

Celebrity, or personal fame disproportionate to professional accomplishments, is such an interesting and pervasive phenomenon to unpack. This book is a worthy introduction that not only discusses celebrity production and manipulation, but also observes its effects on society in general: how breakdowns of regular sources of community, like the extended family and the neighborhood, have happened to be replaced by imagined intimacies with far-off celebrities, and how women in particular have devalued romance as a goal and replaced it with a desire for fame. It is written by a director of cultural studies in Australia so prepare yourself for some Aussie references.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not judging the quality of the book which is a very sound piece of research, only its usefulness to my own research which only intermittently met Turner's.

[Jan_zens · Rating 2 out of 5]

stupid book for stupid people

[Garrett Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite being published in 2011. The theories espoused herein are still entirely applicable in 2021

[Maxwell Foxman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Turner's analysis. His use of Discourse Analysis really gets some fine points about the potentials of celebrity. However, I have a lot more that I would choose to add to his analysis if I had a choice.

[EvaLovesYA · Rating 4 out of 5]

En rigtig god kilde med dybdegående stof og en grundig gennemgang.
- Brugt på universitetet (engelsk kandidat) til en opgave om self-representation, selfies og celebrity culture.
Og ja, jeg lavede noget, men jeg læste også om twitter-beefs og researchede på Youtube i 2 dage. Det var alletiders!