Modernist Star Maps: Celebrity, Modernity, Culture

Jaffe (English, University of Louisville) and Goldman (English, New York Institute of Technology) feel that the topic of celebrity has been the domain solely of the tabloids for too long. This collection of essays looks at celebrity over the past century or so in terms of modernist theory. The subjects range from the ephemeral, such as fin-de-siecle dancer Cleo de Merode, to iconic, such as Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo, to notorious, as exemplified by Leni Riefenstahl and her connection to Hitler. The creation of celebrity, as opposed to fame, is a constant thread. Articles examine authors who were celebrities to those who knew nothing of their work: Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolfe. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, for example. The outlets though which these celebrities were created are also topics of the essays. Celebrity without achievement as a reflection of contemporary self-awareness is an interesting concept that deserves study. Perhaps another collection could look at the phenomenon of reality television under the same microscope. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Aaron Jaffe is Associate Professor of English, University of Louisville, USA and Jonathan Goldman is Assistant Professor of English at the New York Institute of Technology, USA.