Gothic Celebrity: Fame and Immortality from Lord Byron to Lady Gaga

(Hardback)

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An exploration of how concepts of celebrity and the Gothic intersect in Western culture, this book examines the supposed immortality of celebrities in literary texts, visual media and popular culture, and unpicks what happens when that immortality gets disrupted. With celebrity often positioned as decaying, dead and undead in Gothic texts, author Harriet Fletcher demonstrates how the Gothic not only offers an invaluable lens for illuminating new notions of celebrity but that together, they offer effective vehicles for understanding how modern society processes death and ageing. Challenging perceptions about the triviality of celebrity culture, this book traces the celebrity in Gothic tradition through themes such as vampires, decaying portraits, monstrosity and ageing bodies as its manifestations in 19th-century Gothic literature, mid-century Hollywood film, postmodern art and post-millennial television. Featuring celebrity case studies from such as Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde through Joan Crawford and Bette Davis to Lady Gaga, Gothic Celebrity looks at The Vampyre, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Victorian celebrity photography, Sunset Boulevard, What Happened to Baby Jane, the Gothic Portraits of Andy Warhol and FXs American Horror Story.

Fascinating and original with shrewd consideration of historical context, this book stakes a claim for the pertinence of Gothic Studies to cultural history and media studies.

Reviews

Establishing intriguing links between the rise and evolution of celebrity culture from the early nineteenth century to the present day, and the Gothic, as the cultural mode eternally thrust between fames necessary renewal and inevitable decay, this compelling study is a must-read for anybody interested in celebrity and gothic studies. * Monica Germana, Reader in Gothic and Contemportary Studies, University of Westminster, UK *

Author Bio

Harriet Fletcher is Lecturer in Media and Communication at Anglia Ruskin University, UK. Having completed her PhD at Lancaster University, Harriet has several forthcoming peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on Gothic literature, film, popular culture and celebrity studies.