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Zach Weinersmith@zachweinersmith.bsky.social |
Are parasocial relationships with celebrities a mostly modern thing? It occurred to me that in 19th century books about childhood I don't encounter it at all. Kids consume books and like certain songs or stories, but not individual people in that way. There also aren't fandoms.
19 replies 1 reposts 16 likes
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M Sipher
@msipher.bsky.social
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I can only speak for myself, but growing up in the 80s, even "local" "celebrities" felt... a world apart.
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Snap
@sootmonkey.bsky.social
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When was Lisztomania? That’s often cited as the first obsessive fan following of a musician
0 replies 0 reposts 10 likes
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Mat Bowles
@matgb.bsky.social
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Not sure about kids, but celebs and weird relationships go back to at least the 1660s, the reopening of the theatres during the Restoration saw a lot of actors (and especially actresses) get some rather interesting fans
Greg Jenner wrote a book about it a couple years back:
amzn.to/4eAVnqC
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Jessica Cheeri
@cheerijessie.bsky.social
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I think there's a difference in degree that happened with the advent of radio and movies that heightened the idea that the celebrity was talking to the audience. Probably there was some of that with stage acting as well, but radio was different
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Faine Greenwood
@faineg.bsky.social
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ehhhh, just look at how obsessive people in the ancient world were about Alexander the Great.
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Judas Jurgen
@judasjurgen.bsky.social
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If you define "modern" in terms of the Renaissance onwards, sure! It wasn't really codified as an academic concept until last century, though, specifically in the 1950s, if memory serves. TV talk shows were the focus of that. I just checked my uni coursework, and it was the 50s! Horton & Wohl, 1956
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Keezy Young 🌼
@keezyyoung.bsky.social
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i suspect that there have always been parasocial relationships where there's any amount of access (bc there has to be SOME in order for it to not just be distant idolization) so like, i imagine courtiers might have that with a king or queen, but your average guy maybe wouldn't? idk for sure tho!
1 replies 0 reposts 5 likes
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Zach Weinersmith
@zachweinersmith.bsky.social
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Whereas if you were writing an honest book about kids any time in the last, say, three generations, you'd be missing a big piece if you didn't include this sort of thing in the life of a young person.
4 replies 0 reposts 14 likes
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Katherine the Sixth
@luigithirty.bsky.social
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Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther was banned in Leipzig at one point because the city officials had no idea what to make of all the weirdos dressing up in Werther outfits (and the persistent rumors of copycat suicides it inspired)
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Gordon McAlpin
@gmcalpin.bsky.social
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How modern are we talking? 19th century penny dreadfuls (pirates, bandits, and cowboys) and pulps and comics and astronauts all inspired pretty similar idolatry to what you see today with movies and TV. But visual media are more visceral so there’s likely a different (stronger?) quality to it.
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Stejormur
@stejormur.bsky.social
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You should see the forewords to the later Oz books. Baum wanted to move on from the series years earlier, but he was constantly deluged with letters from, like, kids in hospital talking about themselves and how Oz was the only light in their lives.
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Lizard
@lizardky.bsky.social
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I dimly recall reading an article a year or two ago that clubs/societies dedicated to given authors go back at least to the late 18th century. Sadly, I didn’t bookmark it.
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Jacques-Larry David
@dayuan.bsky.social
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Maybe Sarah Bernhardt might be the first example of this (e.g. I think she was one of the first actors to sell branded merchandise, write autographs on a large scale, etc.). That was not a kids’ thing, though.
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Jerod Poore
@jerod23.bsky.social
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There's a lot of debate over when fanzines actually started. While the consensus is the late 1920s, there were something like fanzines about Davy Crockett published in the 1830s.
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Juliette
@elusivej.bsky.social
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From Nicholas Rowe’s 1709 biography of Shakespeare. Which is to say the impulse that gets us here isn’t new at all.
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Slovenly Muse
@slovenlymuse.bsky.social
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Well, what is epic poetry shared by wandering bards if not early gossip columns and fanfic?
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Jennifer de Guzman Strikes Again
@jenniferdeguzman.bsky.social
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There’s a great scene in The Old Curiosity Shop with a bunch of school girls who are gaga for Lord Byron. There’s also a young woman really into him in one of George Eliot’s novels (the only one I don’t like, and I can’t remember the title!)
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Rutger K.
@anotheraspirin.bsky.social
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FWIW here's an article (heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/catalog/book... by yours truly, in English) where the possibility is raised that medieval saints' cults and hagiographies tap into a kind of parasocial relation between saint & community.
I'd say it existed back then, and people knew it.
#ShamelessPlug
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Tea Berry-Blue
@teaberryblue.bsky.social
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Melville’s letters to Hawthorne
2 replies 0 reposts 9 likes