Kim or Caitlyn? Breaking Boundaries in Fame
A question that often comes to our mind: why is fame an important area to reflect on? For me, fame has had a pervasive presence in how fans engage in pleasures and identification, and in how they develop para-social relations with celebrities. The relationship is both material and symbolic. Fan practices such as circulation and re-mixing of celebrity images and texts have physical components. The practices also reflect and reinforce imaginary relations that hold affective and cultural values While the Kardarshians offer pleasures of hybrid identities, they also silence articulations of and...
Read MoreDriving Words
“The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word”. Mata Hari’s beautiful and powerful saying is part of Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit’s journey in which she explores dance as a metaphor of life. She quotes Carl Sandburg and further highlights that “poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” Read more on her dance page. Madhuri Dixit is one of the many famous actresses who not only acts but also dances, and shares it in interviews and on stage. That’s how I grew up – witnessing art as a creative element of fame. For me, fame...
Read MoreCentre for Media and Celebrity Studies – Vol.3 2014
On behalf of the Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS), I am pleased to released the Fall edition of the newsletter ‘Celebrity Culture & Social Inquiry’ Vol. 4. Highlights include: • Dr Mira Moshe’s anthology The Emotions Industry featured on Nova Publishers home page under the “What’s Special for September” section. Relations between fame and emotions theorized in Chapter 12. • Dr Nandana Bose’s latest contributions in celebrity studies and Bollywood stardom • Dr Anita Krajnc raises $36,000 in 3 weeks for mass education and activism • Critical and...
Read MoreThe Exotic ‘Other’ in Hollywood
Dear Readers, As you may know, Pitbull has teamed up with former Miss World and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra for new single ‘Exotic’. For some, Marshall McLuhan’s “global village” may appear closer to a reality in this world. However, a close reading of the video reveals that the production imagines breaking the world into pieces. Bollywood is a cultural construct in which the place ‘Bombay’ and its lived experiences often disappear in global formats of productions. It appears to be changing in unique ways that favour multiculturalism. At the...
Read MoreWhy Fame?
Dear Readers, I am writing from my beautiful summer home in Barcelona where I took up a post-PhD thesis writing retreat. The home has an arts library where I find myself reading, writing, and connecting with creative souls. After I read and write, I often seek new paths among Roman ruins, Medieval Gothic architecture, and contemporary art spaces where many heroes and artists received fame. In my last post, I mentioned my focus on celebrity culture. I have been often asked: what is it about fame that appeals me and calls my attention in cultural studies? Let us address this question with a...
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