Questioning what âmakesâ a celebrity and how celebrity is controlled, dispersed and received are aspects branching out of (Extra)Ordinaryâs debate over celebrities as ordinary/extraordinary. Jade Alexander and Katarzyna Bronk, together with the authors whose chapters make up this inter-disciplinary discussion, not only utilise the existing research on celebrity and fandom, but they also go beyond the often-quoted theorists to engage in multidirectional analyses of what it means to be a celebrity, and what influence they have on the consuming public. The present book provides an avenue for exploring not just what celebrity is as a discursive construction, but also how this involves a complex interplay between celebrities, the media and the audience.
Jade Alexander completed her PhD on roller derby culture at Western Sydney University, Australia. She currently tutors in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at Western Sydney University in cultural studies, sociology, and gender studies subjects.
Katarzyna Bronk is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. She teaches the History of English Literature, but specialises in English theatre and drama and, thus, investigated the question of celebrity within it.
Notes on Contributors Introduction: (Extra)Ordinary?
âJade Alexander and Katarzyna Bronk
Part 1: Constructing Celebrity
1 âThe Big Fellow Is Dead!â: Michael Collins as Celebrity and Nationalist Martyr
âAmber Anna Colvin
2 Mediating Bieber in Canada: Authenticating Nation in Fame
âSamita Nandy
3 Literary Celebrity, Politics and the Nobel Prize: The Nobel Lecture as an Authorial Self-Fashioning Platform
âSandra Mayer
Part 2: (Re)Envisioning Stardom
4 Oscar Wildeâs Long Afterlife: Victorian Celebrity and Its Transformations in Modern Culture
âAnna Fomichenko
5 Touching Fame: Exploring Interactional Dynamics between Local Celebrities and Fans in Sydneyâs Roller Derby Scene
âJade Alexander
6 Celebrity Awards, Fan Communities and the Reconstruction of âHighâ and âLowâ Cultures
âMira Moshe
Of interest to students and those interested in celebrity and fandom studies, popular culture, sport culture(s), history and literature.