Holy Celebrity: Saints and/as Social and Economic Capital
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Hagiography Society
Organizer Name
Alicia Spencer-Hall
Organizer Affiliation
Queen Mary, Univ. of London
Presider Name
Barbara Zimbalist
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of Texas-El Paso
Paper Title 1
Catherine of Siena and Her Critics
Presenter 1 Name
Catherine Mooney
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Boston College
Paper Title 2
Myroblytes: The Power and Appeal of Holy Oil
Presenter 2 Name
Sylvia E. Mullins
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Georgetown Univ.
Paper Title 3
Becoming a Saint in the Mystical Diary of Katherina Tucher (d. 1448)
Presenter 3 Name
Jacob M. Baum
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Texas Tech Univ.
Paper Title 4
I'll Tell You What I Want, What I Really, Really Want: Margery Kempe as the Ultimate Saintly Wannabe
Presenter 4 Name
Alicia Spencer-Hall
Start Date
12-5-2016 1:30 PM
Session Location
Schneider 1360
Description
Scholars have often commented on the link between sanctity and celebrity. Both the saint and the celebrity are elevated above the everyday, with identities carefully crafted by cultural producers to respond to the needs and desires of an audience, region, or temporality. Sacralisation/celebrification entails a series of processes which (re)formulate a subject into a product fit for social, political, and economic consumption. Yet sanctity/celebrity is not simply exploitative, but enjoyable and perhaps even empowering. What does it really mean to be a medieval celebrity? How does celebrity intersect with sanctity? What does such a categorization add to the study of hagiography? Can fame resonate on both a social and spiritual level, and how does the medieval idea of fame generate, overlap with, and inform contemporary discourses of fame, celebrity, and sanctity?
Holy Celebrity: Saints and/as Social and Economic Capital
Schneider 1360
Scholars have often commented on the link between sanctity and celebrity. Both the saint and the celebrity are elevated above the everyday, with identities carefully crafted by cultural producers to respond to the needs and desires of an audience, region, or temporality. Sacralisation/celebrification entails a series of processes which (re)formulate a subject into a product fit for social, political, and economic consumption. Yet sanctity/celebrity is not simply exploitative, but enjoyable and perhaps even empowering. What does it really mean to be a medieval celebrity? How does celebrity intersect with sanctity? What does such a categorization add to the study of hagiography? Can fame resonate on both a social and spiritual level, and how does the medieval idea of fame generate, overlap with, and inform contemporary discourses of fame, celebrity, and sanctity?