Progress in hunt for Definition of Celebrity:
Cultural studies author David Marshall, in his book Celebrity and Power, calls much of modern popular celebrity discourse veiled individualist rhetoric. This is is going on top of my ever-growing stack of celebrity definitions.
More findings, including those from “Trademark Twain” chapter of Author’s Inc. by Loren Glass
The rise of consumer capitalism in the United States from 1880-1920 coincided with a notable increase in the publication of autobiographies by authors...they coincided, but were not a coincidence
Novels themselves became more autobiographical too––Little Women, Martin Eden etc. Eventually literary criticism took on more and more investigation into author’s lives as background for analysis of their work...again not a coincidence.
Twain was the one that most embodied this overlap of cultural performance of authorial personality and the generic reliance on authorial autobiography
As I said in my last blog, Twain never really distinguished between real-life and storied life. It could be said that his novels were actually just as autobiographical in one way or another than his actual autobiography.
An interesting quote from his preface to The Innocents Abroad reads: “I offer no apologies for any departures from the usual style of travel-writing that may be charged against me––for I think I have seen with impartial eyes and (italics mine) I am sure I have at least written honestly, whether wisely or not."
Twain got in trouble a young man, writing for the Territorial Enterprise by making up fictional stories and then publishing them as actual credible news stories.
One of his many aphorisms on truth, Twain once wrote “Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.”
Mark Twain corporatized himself. The Mark Twain Company, founded in 1908, which became the Mark Twain foundation in 1962, is now under control of the Manufacturers Hanover Trust, which is one of New York’s largest investment banks.
Theoretical Frameworks: Po-Mo
The more I study postmodernism, the harder it gets to define and the more I realize how counterintuitive and goofy it is. It just seems like the angry, left-out child among other theoretical frameworks that points out everyone’s shortcomings to make itself feel better. And that is my verdict for now. Maybe with more study I will find its true meaning...but that’s just it, isn’t it? It’s impossible to find meaning in a theoretical framework that is based on the impossibility of finding meaning. As Charlie Brown would say, "Oh drat!"
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There's another whole line of inquiry going on here about autobiographical theory. I think of Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson who both interrogate what they call "the narrating 'I'" of writing. They find that this "I" of autobiography is much like a fictionalized "I" because what a person chooses to disclose, omit, and exaggerate means that the "I" is not the historical lived experience. If you are interested in going in this direction, you could read _Reading Autobiography_ which is an historical overview of autobiographical theory as well as introduction to the contemporary autobiography.
ReplyDeleteI like where you are going in your research. Twain is obviously a very interesting character to say the least. His celebrity seems to have grown both in his public life, but also in his own head which translated to his later writings.
ReplyDeleteI know you are looking at Byron's celebrity too, so how does this definition translate to his work?
I definitely feel you on the theoretical framework front. I researched formalism and new criticism, and it was confusing as well. I was fortunate enough to have access to the Literary Theory Anthology, and even then I was confused at times. I think most theories are confusing when we first begin looking at them, and only with time, practice and application can we really begin to understand.
Do you think po-mo would be a theoretical framework you would possibly use for your cultural artifact? I think when we apply these theories to our own work they become much more engaging and fun to learn about because we are able to further our own research on two fronts.
A side note, I went to see Jill Newby for some research help yesterday. You are absolutely correct, she is a rock star. Thanks for suggesting I go see her.