‘Star and Celebrity Branding within Asia: Using Comradery Capital’
edited volume for Bloomsbury Series in Asian Celebrity and Fandom Studies
The centrality of the celebrity commodity to the flow of cultural and economic capital in mediascapes has been explored by scholars such as Driessens and Marshall who note that celebrities are “manufactured by the celebrity industry” (Driessens, 2012, p. 643), and a mechanism to sell products. Marshall notes that the “celebrity as public individual who participates openly as a marketable commodity serves as a powerful type of legitimation of the political economic model of exchange and value – the basis of capitalism – and extends that model to include the individual (2014 [1997], p. xlviii).
In a recent publication, Celebrity Bromances (Routledge, 2022), we engage with the notion of the celebrity commodity, expanding Driessens’ celebrity capital to the dynamics of celebrity relationships. Driessens outlines how celebrities become part of the currency in a commodity culture, amassing capital that can be traded for profit to the benefit of the celebrity or affiliated products. Celebrities are therefore seen as cultural commodities (Marshall, 2014; Driessens, 2012, 2013); products of culture that contain value which can be traded for economic capital.
The commodification of celebrity interactions is a lens through which celebrity bromances are explored. We suggest that a “bromance capital” operates in contemporary celebrity culture, wherein the bromance is not only used as a tool to draw attention to individual celebrity figures. It also becomes a cultural “product” which gains value as a consequence of the affective attachments it provokes. Expanding the discussion beyond male homosocial intimacy, we also propose the concept of comradery capital, which is inclusive of group dynamics and functions across genders. Comradery capital refers to inherent value of the presentation of celebrity friendships and how these are utilised for the promotion of movies, television shows, charities, and products. The capital can fluctuate depending on levels of authenticity and how the relationship is performed.
While Celebrity Bromances explored some examples of comradery capital, these examples originated mostly from Hollywood celebrity culture. In our efforts to explore the operation of comradery capital, we wish to examine the various readings of comradery capital across countries in Asia. For example, The Avengers cast promotes their dynamic and films in interviews across Asian countries. Similarly, the way Gal Gadot and Chris Pine perform their friendship in the promotion of the Wonder Woman films or Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson for Men In Black International.
We would like to capture cultures from around Asia including Japan, Korea, Dubai, Lebanon, India, China, Iran, Singapore, Pakistan, Malaysia, Israel and Indonesia. In examining the way comradery capital is performed and perceived in these various regions, the book would be able to capture the way in which celebrities vary their performances of friendship to take into account cultural differences of acceptable physical contact, understanding of language and slang, and the reading of sexuality and gender. It will also examine how comradery capital is a global promotional tool, breaking the barriers of communication.
We welcome contributions that focus on the political economy of comradery capital, as well as the affective/empowering dimensions of comradery capital, including fan and consumer relations.
We encourage interested authors to review definitions of bromance and comradery capital in Celebrity Bromances by accessing the open access chapters at the below links. We encourage an engagement with these concepts in abstracts submitted.
Chapter 4 – ‘Utilising’ Bromances
Chapter 5 – Beyond Bromances
Topics could include, but are not limited to:
- Promotion of Hollywood films in Asian contexts
- Reception of Hollywood cast dynamics in Asian contexts
- The creation and presentation of cast dynamics in Asian contexts, including same and mixed gender (binary and non-binary) casts
- The reception of regional cast dynamics in Asian contexts
- Creation and reception of joint or group celebrity persona
Submission
Please send the following to the editors at: cjcelebrityresearch@gmail.com by April 1, 2023:
- 300-word abstract
- 100-word bio
- 5-6 key words
Contact
cjcelebrityresearch@gmail.com
Anticipated timeline
- Abstract submission deadline: April 1, 2023
- Submission of full proposal to Bloomsbury: July 1, 2023
If the proposal is accepted, full chapters would be expected by November 2023.
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