Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Focusing on a type of religious celebrity that attracted European crowds at the turn of the twentieth century, the stigmatized female mystic, in this article I examine the role of the audience in the generation of a celebrity culture from below, i.e., as opposed to the current type of pre-manufactured mass-media celebrity. To examine the audience’s role, I consider the thousands who visited two stigmatized laywomen: the Frenchwoman Marie-Julie Jahenny and the Spaniard Margalida Amengual. The article shows the importance of the personal experiences of the members of the audience, highlighting the role of word-of-mouth communication in the rise to fame of these two stigmatics. I argue that popular enthusiasm is key to achieving both celebrity and ‘living saint’ status. Drawing on the parallels between fans and religious devotees, I also provide evidence of the interplay between the cult of saints and celebrity worship.
Source: Cultural and Social History
Author: Andrea Graus
Institution: University of Antwerp
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Award: G271960913
OpenAlex ID: W2530604201