{"product_id":"the-invention-of-celebrity-hardback-9781509508730","title":"The Invention of Celebrity (Hardback) 9781509508730","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Invention of Celebrity\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eAntoine Lilti (Author), Lynn Jeffress (Translated by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781509508730, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 19 May 2017\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e320 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.5 x 3.3 cm, 0.703 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Lilti’s achievement is highly impressive. He provides a new perspective on the transformations of Western culture in the age of revolutions, and on the genesis of modern notions of selfhood and personal authenticity. And he reminds us that even as we laugh at contemporary celebrity culture, we need to take it seriously, and not merely as an excrescence or a pathology, but as a constituent element of political and cultural modernity.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDavid A. Bell, Princeton University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“With \u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Celebrity\u003c\/i\u003e, Antoine Lilti has established himself as one of the most significant and talented historians of eighteenth-century France…It is an imaginative study, at once audacious and theoretically grounded, that establishes celebrity as an object of historical analysis and lays the groundwork for further studies of the phenomenon.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eColin Jones, Queen Mary University of London\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Exhaustively researched, with in-depth analysis, this book is not a light read, but is definitely an interesting read for those who have more than a passing curiosity for the history behind the rise of 'celebrity.'\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFeathered Quill Book Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Good history opens up sightlines not only to the past but to the present as well.  It allows us to see aspects of our current circumstances as the product of developments that are deeper and richer than we knew… Antoine Lilti’s \u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Celebrity\u003c\/i\u003e is a book that does just that.  A chronicle of the origins and development of our modern société du spectacle, it provides a genealogy of the media-driven world of celebrities and personalities who now dominate our headlines and crowd (out) our public debates.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLiterary Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"An original and seminal work of outstanding scholarship that is thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, \"\u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Celebrity\u003c\/i\u003e\" is an impressively informative and insightful work that is enhanced with the inclusion of a section of full color illustrations, fifty-six pages of Notes, and a thirteen page Index.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMidwest Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“This well-written and well-translated study of a central phenomenon of the modern world has a great deal to offer.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eCanadian Journal of History\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrequently perceived as a characteristic of modern culture, the phenomenon of celebrity has much older roots. In this book Antoine Lilti shows that the mechanisms of celebrity were developed in Europe during the Enlightenment, well before films, yellow journalism, and television, and then flourished during the Romantic period on both sides of the Atlantic.  Figures from across the arts like Voltaire, Garrick, and Liszt were all veritable celebrities in their time, arousing curiosity and passionate loyalty from their “fans.” The rise of the press, new advertising techniques, and the marketing of leisure brought a profound transformation in the visibility of celebrities: private lives were now very much on public show.  Nor was politics spared this cultural upheaval:  Marie-Antoinette, George Washington, and Napoleon all experienced a political world transformed by the new demands of celebrity.  And when the people suddenly appeared on the revolutionary scene, it was no longer enough to be legitimate; it was crucial to be popular too.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLilti retraces the profound social upheaval precipitated by the rise of celebrity and explores the ambivalence felt toward this new phenomenon.  Both sought after and denounced, celebrity evolved as the modern form of personal prestige, assuming the role that glory played in the aristocratic world in a new age of democracy and evolving forms of media. While uncovering the birth of celebrity in the eighteenth century, Lilti's perceptive history at the same time shines light on the continuing importance of this phenomenon in today’s world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Introduction - Celebrity and Modernity\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1 - Voltaire in Paris\u003cbr\u003e “The Most Famous Man in Europe\"\u003cbr\u003e Voltaire and Janot\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2 - Society of the Spectacle\u003cbr\u003e The Birth of Stars: The Economics of Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e Scandal at the Opera\u003cbr\u003e “Something Idolatrous”\u003cbr\u003e A European Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e The Invention of the Fan(atic)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3 - A First Media Revolution\u003cbr\u003e The Visual Culture of Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e Public Figurines\u003cbr\u003e Idols and Marionettes\u003cbr\u003e “Heroes of the Hour”\u003cbr\u003e Private Lives, Public Figures\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4 - From Glory to Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e Trumpeting Fame\u003cbr\u003e Conceptualizing Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e “Chastisement for Merit”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5 - Loneliness of the Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e “The Celebrity of Misfortune”\u003cbr\u003e Friend Jean-Jacques\u003cbr\u003e Eccentricity, Exemplarity, Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e The Burden of Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e Rousseau Judges Jean-Jacques\u003cbr\u003e The Disfiguration\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 6 - The Power of Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e A Fashion Victim?\u003cbr\u003e Revolutionary Popularity\u003cbr\u003e The President is a Great Man\u003cbr\u003e Sunset Island\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 7 - Romanticism and Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e Byromania\u003cbr\u003e Prestige and obligations\u003cbr\u003e Women Seduced and Public Women\u003cbr\u003e Virtuosos\u003cbr\u003e Celebrity in America\u003cbr\u003e Democratic Popularity and Popular Sovereignty\u003cbr\u003e “Celebrities of the Hour”\u003cbr\u003e Towards a New Age of Celebrity\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion\u003cbr\u003e Postface to the English edition\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Illustration credits\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: History [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on History\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22History%20%5BHB%5D%22\"\u003eHB\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52441782092056,"sku":"9781509508730","price":50.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781509508730.jpg?v=1785024809","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-invention-of-celebrity-hardback-9781509508730","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}