Description
Fawcett proposes the concept of ""over-expression"" as the unique quality that unites these events, allowing celebrities to meet their spectators' demands for disclosure without giving themselves away. Like a spotlight so brilliant it is blinding, these exaggerated but illegible self-representations suggest a new way of understanding key aspects of celebrity culture across time. They also challenge many of the disciplinary divides between theatrical character and novelistic character in 18th-century studies, or between performance studies and literary studies today.
Drawing on a wide variety of materials and methodologies, Spectacular Disappearances provides an overlooked but indispensable history for those interested in celebrity studies, performance studies, and autobiography-and anyone curious about the origins of the eighteenth-century self.
About the Author
Julia Fawcett is Assistant Professor of English at Ryerson University, Canada.
Reviews
"Well-written and packed with interesting information about a coterie of performer/writers whom we don't typically read as a coterie. Fawcett's scholarship makes an important contribution to our understanding of the ways in which some of the first public celebrities coped with their fame." -Judith Pascoe, University of Iowa
"This powerfully argued and beautifully written study adds rich historical perspective to celebrity studies." -Misty Anderson, University of Tennessee
Book Information
ISBN 9780472119806
Author Julia H. Fawcett
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint The University of Michigan Press
Publisher The University of Michigan Press
Weight(grams) 600g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm