Celebrity Studies
Celebrity Studies is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Routledge which focuses on the "critical exploration of celebrity, stardom and fame".[1] Founded in 2010 by media studies academics Sean Redmond (University of Victoria) and Su Holmes (University of East Anglia), Celebrity Studies is the first scholarly journal dedicated to the study of celebrity. The debut of the journal reflects a growing scholarly interest in the field following the proliferation of research on celebrity since the 2000s. Upon its announcement, the journal was met with negative media and academic reception. The journal has since helped legitimize the study of celebrity and is regarded as the preeminent journal in its field. The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) shortlisted Celebrity Studies for the Best New Journal award in 2011.
Discipline
English
Erin Meyers and Alice Leppert
2010–present
Quarterly
CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY
1.167 (2021)
Celebr. Stud.
Notable studies published in the journal include analyses on Pippa Middleton's buttocks, the history and influence of "climate contrarians", and Meghan Markle's relationship with feminism. Special issues of the journal have been devoted to singers David Bowie and Michael Jackson, actor Keanu Reeves, and reality television series RuPaul's Drag Race. The journal also sponsors an international biennial conference. Prior conferences took place at universities in Melbourne, London, Amsterdam, and Rome. The journal's current editors-in-chief include Erin Meyers (Oakland University) and Alice Leppert (Ursinus College).
History[edit]
Creation[edit]
The field of "celebrity studies" emerged in academia in the 2000s coinciding with a wave of celebrity in popular culture.[2][3] Due to the recent proliferation of research on celebrity across academic disciplines, a scholarly consensus has emerged about its importance.[4] The journal was started by Sean Redmond (University of Victoria) and Su Holmes (University of East Anglia) in 2010 and is published by Routledge.[5] Redmond and Holmes are both media studies academics[6] who, in 2006, published a review of recent debates about celebrity.[7] Celebrity Studies is the first scholarly journal dedicated to the subject of celebrity.[8][9] It was initially published three times per year.[1]
In the inaugural issue of the journal, the co-editors noted that celebrity "exists at the core of many of the spaces, experiences and economies of modern life."[10][11] Additionally, they wanted to remind readers that engaging with celebrity requires individuals to "to defamiliarise the everyday" and thereby "make apparent the cultural politics and power relations which sit at the center of 'the taken for granted.'" Such a task of "uncovering and analyzing the systems and structures" of celebrity lies at the foundation of media, television, and cultural studies, according to the inaugural issue.[12] Holmes also told the Times Higher Education that celebrity studies was "more central to understanding the everyday than maths, English or science".[13]