Celebrity Culture Club

Alexandra Georgakopoulou and Rob Gallagher from King’s College London’s Ego-Media research project joined celebrity studies scholars Oline Eaton and Hannah Yelin for a symposium dedicated to the Kardashian clan and their impact on how we produce and consume life stories today (Hannah, as you’ll hear, was also joined by baby Arvo, who chips in with the occasional gurgle).

Hannah gave a paper titled ‘We are all dark, and we’re hairy, like most Armenians’: Ethnicity, Pride, and Shame in Kardashian Konfidential. This paper examined how the Kardashians discuss their Armenian ethnicity in the memoir Kardashian Konfidential in relation to the ‘whiteness’ of celebrity culture.

The discussion spanned old media and new, parenthood and post-feminism, entrepreneurship and diasporic identity, viral style trends and Snapchat’s share price. And Kimojis, obviously.

This event was organised by Oline Eaton and Rob Gallagher for King’s College London’s Ego-Media research project.

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