Constructing Charisma

"This is a persuasive and timely collection. Celebrity and charisma are very much on the current research agenda. This volume deals with these issues in a serious, insightful manner, making an original contribution to what is now a rising field of study." * Philip Nord, Princeton University Railroads, telegraphs, lithographs, photographs, and mass periodicals-the major technological advances of the 19th century seemed to diminish the space separating people from one another, creating new and apparently closer, albeit highly mediated, social relationships. Nowhere was this phenomenon more evident than in the relationship between celebrity and fan, leader and follower, the famous and the unknown. By mid-century, heroes and celebrities constituted a new and powerful social force, as innovations in print and visual media made it possible for ordinary people to identify with the famous; to feel they knew the hero, leader, or "star"; to imagine that public figures belonged to their private lives. This volume examines the origins and nature of modern mass media and the culture of celebrity and fame they helped to create. Crossing disciplines and national boundaries, the book focuses on arts celebrities (Sarah Bernhardt, Byron and Liszt); charismatic political figures (Napoleon and Wilhelm II); famous explorers (Stanley and Brazza); and celebrated fictional characters (Cyrano de Bergerac). Edward Berenson is Professor of History and French Studies and Director of the Institute of French Studies at New York University. His numerous publications include The Trial of Madame Caillaux (University of California Press 1992) and Heroes of Empire: Five Charismatic Men and Europe's Quest for Africa, (University of California Press 2010). Eva Giloi is Assistant Professor in the History Department at Rutgers University, Newark. Her book Monarchy, Myth, and Material Culture in Germany 1750-1950 is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press in 2010.