Self-Made
Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
An exploration into the curation of the self in Western civilization from Da Vinci to Kim Kardashian.
In a technologically-saturated era where nearly everything can be effortlessly and digitally reproduced, we're all hungry to carve out our own unique personalities, our own bespoke personae, to stand out and be seen. As the forces of social media and capitalism collide, and individualism becomes more important than ever across a wide array of industries, "branding ourselves" or actively defining our selves for others has become the norm. Yet, this phenomenon is not new. In Self-Made, Tara Isabella Burton shows us how we arrived at this moment of fervent personal-branding.
As attitudes towards religion, politics and society evolved, our sense of self did as well, moving from a collective to individual mindset. Through a series of chronological biographical essays on famous (and infamous) "self-creators" in the modern Western world, from the Renassiance to the Enlightenment to modern capitalism and finally to our present moment of mass media, Burton examines the theories and forces behind our never-ending need to curate ourselves. Through a vivid cast of characters and an engaging mix of cultural and historical commentary, we learn how the personal brand has come to be.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this wide-ranging survey, Burton (Strange Rites) traces the idea of the charismatic "self-made" person through its evolution from the advent of the printing press to the age of social media. Profiling Thomas Edison, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, and other zeitgeist-influencers, Burton demonstrates how their genius at marketing highly curated versions of themselves often obscured or ignored elements that didn't fit the narrative, and describes the need for self-invention as a quest to become a "god" where "artificiality and authenticity meet." Renaissance artist and printmaker Albrecht Dürer made his attempt literal, boldly inserting his own image to represent Jesus in his art. Men dominate the first portion of the analysis, but easing social restrictions in the 20th century led to the rise of self-made women. Actor Clara Bow's celebrated "It" factor launched a fervor to capture that elusive, mesmerizing quality on cinema screens and in increasingly lucrative advertising. Through each era, technology has remained a crucial component in allowing tastemakers to shape their personas and spread their self-promotional messages. With clarity and authority, Burton sheds light on how the self-made indulge in the profitable "fantasy of selling yourself" and provide an escape from reality for their followers. It's an eye-opener. (Jun.)
