Spectacular Disappearances

How can people in the spotlight control their self-representations when the whole world seems to be watching? The question is familiar, but not new. Julia Fawcett examines the stages, pages, and streets of eighteenth-century London as England's first modern celebrities performed their own strange an...

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Päätekijä: Fawcett, Julia H.
Aineistotyyppi: Online
Kieli:englanti
Julkaistu: University of Michigan Press 2021
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Linkit:650031
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author Fawcett, Julia H.
author_browse Fawcett, Julia H.
author_facet Fawcett, Julia H.
author_sort Fawcett, Julia H.
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description How can people in the spotlight control their self-representations when the whole world seems to be watching? The question is familiar, but not new. Julia Fawcett examines the stages, pages, and streets of eighteenth-century London as England's first modern celebrities performed their own strange and spectacular self-representations. They include the enormous wig that actor Colley Cibber donned in his comic role as Lord Foppington--and that later reappeared on the head of Cibber's cross-dressing daughter, Charlotte Charke. They include the black page of Tristram Shandy, a memorial to the parson Yorick (and author Laurence Sterne), a page so full of ink that it cannot be read. And they include the puffs and prologues that David Garrick used to heighten his publicity while protecting his privacy; the epistolary autobiography, modeled on the sentimental novel, of Garrick's protégée George Anne Bellamy; and the elliptical poems and portraits of the poet, actress, and royal courtesan Mary Robinson, a.k.a. Perdita. Linking all of these representations is a quality that Fawcett terms "over-expression," the unique quality that allows 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 some of the key aspects of celebrity culture, both in the eighteenth century and today. They also challenge divides between theatrical character and novelistic character in eighteenth-century studies, or between performance studies and literary studies today. The book provides an indispensable history for scholars and students in celebrity studies, performance studies, and autobiography—and for anyone curious about the origins of the eighteenth-century self.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-308262025-03-12T20:55:23Z Spectacular Disappearances Fawcett, Julia H. History Autobiography Colley Cibber Garrick Club Laurence Sterne Pope The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman Wig How can people in the spotlight control their self-representations when the whole world seems to be watching? The question is familiar, but not new. Julia Fawcett examines the stages, pages, and streets of eighteenth-century London as England's first modern celebrities performed their own strange and spectacular self-representations. They include the enormous wig that actor Colley Cibber donned in his comic role as Lord Foppington--and that later reappeared on the head of Cibber's cross-dressing daughter, Charlotte Charke. They include the black page of Tristram Shandy, a memorial to the parson Yorick (and author Laurence Sterne), a page so full of ink that it cannot be read. And they include the puffs and prologues that David Garrick used to heighten his publicity while protecting his privacy; the epistolary autobiography, modeled on the sentimental novel, of Garrick's protégée George Anne Bellamy; and the elliptical poems and portraits of the poet, actress, and royal courtesan Mary Robinson, a.k.a. Perdita. Linking all of these representations is a quality that Fawcett terms "over-expression," the unique quality that allows 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 some of the key aspects of celebrity culture, both in the eighteenth century and today. They also challenge divides between theatrical character and novelistic character in eighteenth-century studies, or between performance studies and literary studies today. The book provides an indispensable history for scholars and students in celebrity studies, performance studies, and autobiography—and for anyone curious about the origins of the eighteenth-century self. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2018-05-18 23:55 2020-03-12 03:00:29 2020-04-01T12:44:16Z 2016-05-01 book 650031 OCN: 1030820486 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/30069 9780472900619 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/30826 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/30069/1/650031.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/30069/1/650031.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/30069/1/650031.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/30069/1/650031.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/30069/1/650031.pdf University of Michigan Press 10.3998/mpub.8748948 10.3998/mpub.8748948 b7359529-e5f7-4510-a59f-d7dafa1d4d17 Knowledge Unlatched b818ba9d-2dd9-4fd7-a364-7f305aef7ee9 9780472900619 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) Ann Arbor 103496 open access
spellingShingle History
Autobiography
Colley Cibber
Garrick Club
Laurence Sterne
Pope
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
Gentleman
Wig
Fawcett, Julia H.
Spectacular Disappearances
title Spectacular Disappearances
title_full Spectacular Disappearances
title_fullStr Spectacular Disappearances
title_full_unstemmed Spectacular Disappearances
title_short Spectacular Disappearances
title_sort spectacular disappearances
topic History
Autobiography
Colley Cibber
Garrick Club
Laurence Sterne
Pope
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
Gentleman
Wig
topic_facet History
Autobiography
Colley Cibber
Garrick Club
Laurence Sterne
Pope
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
Gentleman
Wig
url 650031
work_keys_str_mv AT fawcettjuliah spectaculardisappearances