| The popular definition of celebrity defines the Celebrity as a product of manufacture rather than merit. If fame is taken to represent the recognition of achievement, then modern celebrity, in contrast, must be based on something other than achievement. In fact, at the extreme end of the proposition, achievement -- greatness -- and celebrity are inversely proportional. Celebrity and fame are not the same thing; they are interrelated, and occasionally coexistent, but not necessarily interchangeable terms. However, where the two intersect -- where the famous Celebrity, or the person who is well-known for his/her performative acts, is situated is that with which this study is primarily concerned.;This dissertation is an attempt to explore one avenue by which the process of interconnecting fame and celebrity is accomplished, and to delineate the reification/commodification process inherent in the creation of celebrity. It begins by locating the concept of celebrity within the larger context of popular culture, then constructs a rhetorical and historical genealogy of the term "celebrity." The resulting model of celebrity is then applied to one particular instance of media: American Idol.;This qualitative study examines the ascribing processes embedded in the text (thereby examining the ways in which meaning is made in respect to celebrity in this particular media instance), and seven seasons of American Idol are textually analyzed, rhetorically and thematically. Using Critical Discourse Analysis and P. David Marshall's "toolbox for analyzing celebrity texts," 277 episodes of American Idol are read, deliberately and meticulously, to discover the forms and codes by which celebrity is defined, generated, nurtured, and intensified in this specific instance, within this specific artifact. A model is then suggested for interpreting the particular genus of celebrity which is manifest on American Idol, contributing a theoretical framework, conceptual model, and data collection/analysis methodology to the larger network of conversations surrounding the nature and behavior of the social phenomenon we call celebrity. |
