Fame in Hollywood North: A Theoretical Guide to Celebrity Cultures in Canada

The glamorous construction of Hollywood celebrities is pervasive in North America. But are glamour, splendour, allure, sex appeal, and questions of authenticity the only determining factors of Hollywood fame? How does the Canadian nation play a role in constructing fame in Hollywood? What is the nature of celebrity cultures in Canada? Samita Nandy answers these questions in the first ever history and theory of fame in Canada. Using a Canadian perspective, the book sheds new light on the relationship between fame and nation. Nandy particularly reveals the contested relations between Canada’s Northern frontier and America’s Wild West in discursive constructions of fame, thereby debunking the popular myth that English Canada does not have a star system. In fact, an understanding of Hollywood celebrity culture is incomplete without the understanding of fame north of the border. Fame in Hollywood North answers key questions about the nature of fame in Canada and addresses long overlooked aspects of celebrity culture in North America.