Using stars, not just ‘reading’ them: The roles and functions of film stars in mother-daughter relations

Ralph, Sarah (2015) Using stars, not just ‘reading’ them: The roles and functions of film stars in mother-daughter relations. Celebrity Studies, 6 (1). pp. 23-38. ISSN 1939-2397

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Abstract

This article explores the various and important ways in which film stars can function within mother-daughter relations over the life-cycle of their relationship. Drawing on detailed qualitative material from an interdisciplinary audience study of mothers’ and daughters’ shared relations to film stars, it demonstrates how a significant shift can be identified with regard to the kinds of roles that stars play in dyadic relations as a daughter experiences various developmental and transitional phases to adulthood. Necessitating an alternative approach to those previously employed within Star and Celebrity Studies, the article takes a significant new perspective on the study of audiences for stars from the work of art anthropologist Alfred Gell (1998) and proposes a move away from semiotic, ‘textualist’ readings of stars towards an ‘action’-centred exploration of the ways in which films stars are used and function in social interactions over the life-cycle of personal relationships.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	film stars,audiences,mother–daughter relationships,life cycles,alfred gell
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	17 Feb 2015 10:46
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2023 01:45
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/51506
DOI:	10.1080/19392397.2015.995466

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