Literary Celebrity in Canada

by Lorraine M. York

In recent years, Canadian authors have enjoyed tremendous international success, writing novels that become Oscar-nominated films or achieve coveted success as selections for the Oprah Winfrey bookclub. Literary Celebrity in Canada is the first extended study of the dynamics of celebrity in the field of Canadian literature. Building on the argument that celebrity is a phenomenon firmly embraced by mainstream culture, Lorraine York examines it in relation to various tensions and conflicts within the literary community and beyond. Using as examples three contemporary literary celebrities, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and Carol Shields, and four earlier popular writers, Pauline Johnson, Stephen Leacock, Mazo de la Roche, and L.M. Montgomery, York demonstrates that individual authors respond differently to fame in ways that can be contradictory and complex. She casts doubt on the notion of a specifically Canadian response to fame. Depending on the public interpretation of a particular writer's life and work, different tensions arise in negotiating literary celebrity. Privacy versus publicity; swift success versus laborious apprenticeship; national versus international association, or ownership of the celebrity - no single version of celebrity applies to all. Citizenship, however, is a remarkably consistent site of tension for stars, literary or otherwise. Like citizenship, celebrity marks an uneasy space wherein the single, special individual and the group demographic both meet and separate. Literary Celebrity in Canada explores that space, drawing on current theories of celebrity and questioning their tendency to view fame as an empty phenomenon. This study is an innovative attempt to understand the psychology of literary stardom and will influence future research on contemporary literature and popular culture.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2007

About the author

Lorraine York, PhD, is Professor of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University (Hamilton, ON).

Reviews

[Myriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched and pleasant read. It took me a while to get through the first chapter, but it was worth it, the rest of the book is quite fascinating.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting perspective, and much needed in literary studies. I found the Atwood section very useful, as I am doing some work on an associated area of Atwood study, and this provides a significant and effective lens for viewing Atwood as a "star". I look foward to reading the follow-up volume, which looks at thr industry which surrounds Atwood in greatet detail, but this study was puts those considerations in their economic and national contexts.