Overview
- Presents an original theory of reluctance in relation to celebrity culture
- Brings together cultural studies in affect and celebrity studies
- Reveals how the public performance of reluctance is linked to privilege amongst celebrities such as John Cusack, Robert De Niro, and Daniel Craig
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Table of contents(5 chapters)
About this book
In this book, Lorraine York examines the figure of the celebrity who expresses discomfort with his or her intense condition of social visibility. Bringing together the fields of celebrity studies and what Ann Cvetkovich has called the “affective turn in cultural studies”, York studies the mixed affect of reluctance, as it is performed by public figures in the entertainment industries. Setting aside the question of whether these performances are offered “in good faith” or not, York theorizes reluctance as the affective meeting ground of seemingly opposite emotions: disinclination and inclination. The figures under study in this book are John Cusack, Robert De Niro, and Daniel Craig—three white, straight, cis-gendered-male cinematic stars who have persistently and publicly expressed a feeling of reluctance about their celebrity. York examines how the performance of reluctance, which is generally admired in celebrities, builds up cultural prestige that can then be turned to other purposes.
Reviews
“Bringing theories of affect to bear on celebrity studies, Reluctant Celebrity offers fascinating new insights into the star personas of three major male Hollywood stars: John Cusack, Robert De Niro and Daniel Craig. In a highly readable, insightful and erudite book, York explores the cultural importance of the figure of the “reluctant celebrity’ in neoliberal culture. If you have an interest in celebrity studies, masculinity, stars, popular culture, and film, you should read this book.” (Dr Tanya Horeck, Reader in Film, Media & Culture, Anglia Ruskin University, UK. Author of Public Rape: Representing Violation in Fiction and Film (2004) and co-editor of The New Extremism in Cinema: From France to Europe, 2011)
Authors and Affiliations
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McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Lorraine York
About the author
Lorraine York, Distinguished Professor at Department of English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University, Canada.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Reluctant Celebrity
Book Subtitle: Affect and Privilege in Contemporary Stardom
Authors: Lorraine York
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71174-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-71173-7Published: 31 January 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-89045-6Published: 11 May 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-71174-4Published: 17 January 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 153
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Popular Culture , Screen Studies, Performers and Practitioners