*The Cult of Personality: **Constructing and Defining the Cult Film Star*
Edited by Kate Egan and Sarah Thomas (Aberystwyth University, UK)
Proposals are invited for contributions to an edited collection on cult film
stars. The term 'cult film star' has been employed, and used as a
common-sense term, in publicity and popular journalistic writing for at
least the last twenty-five years (for instance, in Danny Peary's 1991
reference book, *Cult Movie Stars*). However, what makes cult film stars or
actors distinct or different from other film stars has rarely been
addressed, with the cult star label often being attributed to particular
stars or actors in a rather arbitrary or random way. This edited collection
aims to contribute to two key areas of debate and enquiry within film
studies - star studies and cult film studies - by bringing together
contributions focused on case studies of particular film stars/actors who
have been considered to have a particular 'cult' appeal (whether actors or
stars associated with Hollywood filmmaking, independent filmmaking or
cinemas beyond Hollywood). The question that should unite all contributions
to the book is: what are the industrial, performance-related,
formal/aesthetic, cultural or discursive processes that inform the naming of
particular film actors as 'cult actors' or 'cult stars'? Consequently, we
are happy to receive contributions that employ methods associated with:
textual analysis, analysis of star performance, star labour, historical
reception studies and/or audience research.
Questions that could be addressed in contributions may include, but are not
limited to:
1. What role do particular stars or actors play in films that have
been designated as cult? How do particular stars or actors relate to
qualities that have been identified as important to many cult films, such as
generic hybridity, self-consciousness, reflexivity, and excessiveness?
2. How are cult stars constructed and defined as alternative examples
of stardom? Is the status of particular stars/actors as 'cult' related to
their marginal status as 'other' or with other associations of 'difference'
(for example, in relation to employment, race, nationality, sexuality)?
3. How does the status of particular stars/actors as 'cult' relate to
issues of cultural capital or tie-ins (for example, the advertising of
particular kinds of products)?
4. How are particular stars/actors employed in films to signify
difference or off-beatness or other such qualities (for example, through
cameos or supporting roles)? **
5. Does the status of particular stars/actors as 'cult' relate to
their association with particular genres or modes of filmmaking (for
example, horror, art cinema or independent American cinema)?
6. Do cult stars or actors employ particular performance styles that
set them apart from more conventional performances, such as self-conscious,
non-naturalistic or overplayed styles?
7. Are certain cult stars or actors designated as such because of the
cult status of a character they have played?
8. Does the designation of particular stars/actors as 'cult stars'
occur retrospectively (i.e. after their death, or through the rediscovery of
particular stars via film festivals, the internet or DVD re-releases)?
9. Is there an alternative star system associated with, for instance,
straight to DVD releases or films distributed via the internet?
10. Is the status of someone as a cult star or actor related to his/her
associations with other mediums outside of the cinema (for example, radio or
the music industry)?
Please send proposals (of between 300-350 words) to Dr Kate Egan (
(kte /at/ aber.ac.uk)) and Dr Sarah Thomas ((skt /at/ aber.ac.uk)) by Friday 29th January
2010.
