File(s) under permanent embargo
Music/image and the cusp-persona: the child/adult public persona of child celebrities
One of the prevailing tropes of the child stars in popular entertainment is their precociousness. This chapter develops the public/popular construction of coming of age. It looks at how popular culture constructs the movement from child to adult which begins with precocious public presentation of children with adult-like abilities to their adolescent public transformations. From studies of early child stars of the twentieth century, mid-century popular music adolescent stars, recent boy bands and the investigation of two generations of Disney child stars, the chapter explores the way that music has been critical in establishing a cusp-like personality, one that allows the expression of childhood but challenges that identity by sexualizing the performer’s identity so that it is simultaneously child and adult.
History
Title of book
Childhood and celebrityChapter number
15Pagination
184 - 193Publisher
RoutledgePlace of publication
Abingdon, Eng.ISBN-13
9781138855298Language
engPublication classification
B1 Book chapterCopyright notice
2017, The AuthorsExtent
15Editor/Contributor(s)
J O'Connor, J MercerUsage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC