Stellar Encounters: Stardom in Popular European Cinema

Within the intertwined areas of film, television, and media research, the study of stardom has developed into a rich field with numerous approaches. This collection of essays interrogates aspects of stardom in Europe, addressing the significance of the subject, its particular incarnations, and areas of possible research within film and television. The essays enter into a dialogue with each other on multiple levels from individual to national, from private (lives) to public (images), and from empirical scholarly research to theoretical explication. While considering different practices of stardom in Europe and the meanings that they produce, the volume draws some preliminary conclusions about such dichotomies as the familiar and the extraordinary or the individual and the community.

Tytti Stoila is Professor of Cinema Studies at Stockholm University, Sweden.