Authorship, Activism and Celebrity

Art and Action in Global Literature

Sandra Mayer, Ruth Scobie, Sandra Mayer, Ruth Scobie

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9781501392337
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781501392344
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Art & Politics
• Index: Literature

Since long before the age of celebrity activism, literary authors have used their public profiles and cultural capital to draw attention to a wide range of socio-political concerns. This book is the first to explore – through history, criticism and creative interventions – the relationship between authorship, political activism and celebrity culture across historical periods, cultures, literatures and media. It brings together scholars, industry stakeholders and prominent writer-activists to engage in a conversation on literary fame and public authority.

These scholarly essays, interviews, conversations and opinion pieces interrogate the topos of the artist as prophet and acute critic of the zeitgeist; analyse the ideological dimension of literary celebrity; and highlight the fault lines between public and private authorial selves, 'pure' art, political commitment and marketplace imperatives. In case studies ranging from the 18th century to present-day controversies, authors illuminate the complex relationship between literature, politics, celebrity culture and market activism, bringing together vivid current debates on the function and responsibility of literature in increasingly fractured societies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• 1 Introduction: The Idea of the Author
• 2 ‘Let’s Deal with the People Oppressing All of Us’: Benjamin Zephaniah in Conversation
• Part 1 Art as Activism
• Part 2 Activism and the Literary Industry
• Part 3 The Invention of the Public Intellectual
• Part 4 Writing Europe
• Bibliography
• Index
• Imprint