120691 PS Proseminar Cultural and Media Studies (2021W)

In 2017, Kendall Jenner stated the following in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar: “I don't think of it as 'The Kardashians' in quotes. I think of it as my family.” This and anything revolving around ‘The Kardashians’ illustrates the intersection of family life with the limelight: it constitutes the celebrity’s familial ties as well as we the family as a product to consume. More generally, families such as The Kardashian, The Rockefellers, fictional depictions of families like The Brady Bunch as well as Taylor Swift’s friendship squad represent forms of kinship which shape the celebrity world while having an influence on dominant ideas about belonging in society.

In this class, we will critically analyze famous kinship bonds from familial blood ties such as the first family of the United States to famous friendships like Taylor Swift’s squad from a celebrity studies and (critical) kinship studies perspective. Discussing concepts and ideas such as fame, parasocial relationships, critical kinship as well as community and the queering of kinship will help us understand the complex interrelations of kinship relations within the celebrity world and beyond. We will trace the historical development of kinship in North America, explore the context of production of specific cultural texts and understand them in relation to – among other things – the myth of the nuclear family and belonging in the US and North America in general. Further primary examples we will be examining include old money families such as the Hiltons, fictional representations of famous families (e.g. The Simpsons), online representations of family (e.g. The ACE Family), or queer family making (Neil Patrick Harris’ family).

At the end of this course, students will be able to critically analyze and queer cultural texts in American popular culture with methods such as visual and discourse analysis and close reading. Students will also have gained a theoretical understanding through readings from the field of (critical) kinship studies, celebrity studies, media studies, and American studies. Furthermore, students will learn how to conceptualize, research, and write academic texts such as a paper proposal and a proseminar paper.