71: How we create ‘imagined communities’ with celebrity gossip

16/03/2021 10 min
71: How we create ‘imagined communities’ with celebrity gossip

Listen "71: How we create ‘imagined communities’ with celebrity gossip"

Episode Synopsis

"By gossiping about celebrities and by talking about what they've done that isn't so great, it allows us to establish our values as a community and also for me, as an individual, to advertise my values to the people I'm speaking with," says Julia Fawcett, a professor who teaches a course called The History of Celebrity in the Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies. Celebrities, one theory goes, act to unite imagined communities in a modern nation. When people used to know everyone in their villages, now we use celebrities to come together in a new kind of group. "I’m a fan of Beyoncé, and you’re a fan of Beyoncé, so now we’re a part of this imagined community," says Fawcett.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on UC Berkeley News: https://news.berkeley.edu/2021/03/16/fiat-vox-podcast-celebrity/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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