Presumed Intimacy: Parasocial Interaction in Media, Society and Celebrity Culture by Chris Rojek

Author:Chris Rojek [Rojek, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Social Science, Media Studies, Leisure Studies, Sociology, Celebrity, Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9780745698120
Google: ymBcCwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B019O5NEQS
Goodreads: 26533566
Publisher: Polity
Published: 2015-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Sorcerer

Much the same applies to Richard Wagner. The son of a clerk and a baker's daughter, he consistently portrays himself as scrabbling forth from an unremarkable background and winning the admiration of the public by overcoming huge obstacles. His humble origins; his political radicalism with the German volk (which cost him thirteen years in exile after 1849); his war against the indifference and hostility of music critics and envious musicians; the poor health that plagued him; the relentless, highly adept courting of supporters and backers to finance his chosen (very expensive), art form; the reactions of audiences that he often deemed to be ‘superficial’ because, he believed, they failed to grasp the truly, revolutionary significance of his work – all of this he recounts with Pharaonic disdain. It is the counter-piece to the ideologies of race, blood and redemption that he notoriously propagated elsewhere in his work. Wagner was intent on using his music and projecting his personality as a means to both recover passions, dulled and lost in the industrial and commercial regimentation of life, and to be a portent of a new stage in human relations. Sensuality in Wagner's music was designed to carry the message that the societal norms of stratified society must be overcome to permit real social change (Harper Scott 2011: 57). His music and public life were predicated in making emotional relations of presumed intimacy with an audience of fellow travellers who were schooled through self-promotion and exposure management to regard him as their idol.

Dickens and Wagner believed that great art could not speak for itself. New technologies of communication and the rising tide of cultural literacy had combined to change the rules of the game. In order to fully connect with the audiences of the day, self-promotion and exposure management were required. The public craved personalities larger and more breath-taking than the denizens of the urban crowd – celebrities fit to rival the ascribed figureheads of the establishment. Against the stratified pomp of ascribed celebrity, they became increasingly fixated upon pioneers from their own streets and settings, who challenged the vertical ceiling that traditionally assigned (and mostly confined), fame and influence to the nobility. It was the conceit of self-promotion to present this process as spontaneous and autonomous. In fact, Dickens leant heavily upon his trusted ensemble of advisers to construct a winning public image. They helped mitigate the negative consequences for his reputation that followed his separation from his wife and his extended, furtive liaison with the actress, Ellen Ternan. Wagner also worked with cultural intermediaries, like Theodor Uhlig and Franz Liszt, to manipulate the press and achieve social impact with the public. Commentators have referred repeatedly to his megalomania. He insisted upon being ‘the centre of attention’ at all times (Kroplin 1989). Uhlig has been called ‘Wagner's first publicity agent’, although of course, he worked in an amateur capacity (Vazsonyi 2012: 109). Together they planted influential notices and articles in publications such as the Neue Zeitschrift fur Music (NZfM) to promote Wagner's music and revolutionary status.

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