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Chapter 2

Mediating Bieber in Canada: Authenticating Nation in Fame

Samita Nandy

Abstract

This chapter examines ways in which online fame expresses offline constructions of a nation. These expressions are often articulated through ordinariness of a nation in contrast to the extraordinary talent or heroism of a celebrity. Since maintenance of territorial boundaries has been the traditional premise for a unifying national identity, the global reach of online fame may threaten national interests of media corporations. Nevertheless, corporations often reclaim national identity of celebrities for develop- ment of national and transnational brands. The expression of a dominant national identity also helps fans to identify with celebrities, both online and offline. This chap- ter maps the relation between fame and nation, and uses a case study of pop star Justin Bieber to show specific ways in which his national identity is accepted, negotiated or subverted in online and traditional media. In particular, this chapter shows how the tensions between Bieber’s extraordinary talent and the ordinariness of his nation un- fold questions of authenticity. The use of Justin Bieber’s authenticity not only main- tains his fame but also Canada as his homeland and a frontier nation in a colonialist context. To understand organisational and corporate ways of articulating national identity in fame, the chapter recognises the need to focus on industrial production as well as the discursive construction of celebrities.

1 Celebrities and Nation

The notion of celebrity as a national hero can be traced back to the rise of the Industrial Revolution. At that time, decline of organised religion, new conditions of capitalism and democratisation of society replaced earlier forms of monarchy. In this context, mass media played a significant role in constructing celebrities as enablers of social mobility that was nearly absent in the past. Individuals identify with these media constructions as achievable forms of freedom on a personal level. At the same time, media help inscrib- ing social values in celebrity constructions that have been meaningful for national cohesion on a collective level. These expressions are often related to

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authenticity that has been lost in the industrialisation of a nation. However, media constructions attempt to restore social values of authenticity through ordinary expressions of national identity. This ordinariness contrasts extraor- dinary talent or heroism of a celebrity in a nation. It is a paradox that creates and sustains desire of a celebrity and, more importantly, the nation in which the celebrity is constructed. Amber Anna Colvin defined the celebrity as “an individual who is broadly known and recognised, both through image and deeds, and is a part of the social and cultural discourse of a given area and time period.”1 She explained that a celebrity is also the attempt to preserve and pub- licise the image of an individual in the absence of his or her person and is often historically connected to performance or presence in public spectacles. The understanding of celebrities as extraordinary performers of public spectacles sets theoretical grounds for this chapter to explain Justin Bieber as a Canadian hero in this chapter. As this chapter demonstrates, the personality and identity of a celebrity acts as an ordinary attribute in a paradoxical relation to his or her extraordinary performance in fame. In political and economic contexts, the ordinary personality of a celebrity is often mediated as a national self that both raises and addresses questions of authenticity that has been lost with the rise of industrialisation. The chapter sheds particular light on the rise of Justin Bieber’s celebrity on the Internet and compares online and offline gratification of national symbols in his fame. This gratification occurs on two levels that are significant for audiences and fans in a nation.

First, fans can share ideological beliefs that are reproduced in media con- structions of celebrities. Here, the mode of communication among fans, as scholar James Carey argues, is ritualistic and participatory.2 This mode of communication leads to, in Benedict Anderson’s words, building an “imagined community” that is also central to the ideology of the nation. In Anderson’s work on nationalism, “the nation” is constructed as an “imaginary community” because most inhabitants will never meet. It is imagined because the “mem- bers of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them.”3 Hence, we invent “nations where they do not exist.”4 Given that most citizens will never meet, the narration of a nation

1 Amber Anna Colvin, “‘Ireland’s Sorrow’: Michael Collins, Celebrity and Nationalist Discourse in Irish and British Newspapers,” paper presented at the 2nd Global Conference: Celebrity: Exploring Critical Issues, Lisbon, 2013. See also her chapter in this volume, “‘The Big Fellow Is Dead!’: Michael Collins as Celebrity and Nationalist Martyr.”

2 James Carey, Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989).

3 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of National- ism (London: Verso, 1989), 6.

4 Ibid.

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through texts helps to communicate central ideologies and unite the nation. It can be conversely argued that cultural industries constructing celebrities fol- low what scholar John Dewey called a transmission model of communication, sending messages over distance for the purpose of control. In celebrity culture, these two kinds of communication, whether for control or participation, sup- port the formation of a community with a common economic and political system, which is central to constructing and sustaining national identity in public spaces.

Second, celebrities can offer social gratification by offering opportunities to nationwide fans to engage in celebrity worship and develop para-social re- lationships with celebrities in their nation. A para-social relationship can be defined as an illusion of a face-to-face relationship between a spectator and a media personality.5 The development of para-social relationships between celebrities and fans has been historically important due to their shared identity and social functions. Scholar Chris Rojek explains that “celebrity culture is a significant institution in the normative achievement of social integration.”6 As mentioned earlier, the combination of the decline of organised religion, the democratisation of society, and the commodification of society over the last two centuries provided the foundation for the rise of celebrities.7 Specifi- cally, “celebrities replaced monarchy as the new symbols of recognition and belonging, and as the belief in God waned, celebrities became immortal.”8 It can be argued that the institutional power of celebrities “is very limited or non- existent.”9 However, as Chris Rojek argues, systematic media representations and shared sense of belonging have the ability to comply with the social needs of fans and produce social cohesion. For a nation, the para-social functions of celebrities based on shared national identity help to control citizens and pro- vide conditions for national cohesion.

The ways contemporary celebrities act as role models and strengthen na- tional cohesion is not necessarily through classical forms of heroism and merit that were observed in the past. Elsewhere in this volume Colvin10 offers a case

5 Victor Costello, Interactivity and the “Cyber-Fan”: An Exploration of Audience Involvement within the Electronic Fan Culture of the Internet (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee, 1999) and Donal Horton and Richard Wohl, “Mass Communication and Para-Social Inter- action,” in Consumption and Everyday Life, ed. Hugh Mackay (London: Sage, 1997).

6 Chris Rojek, Celebrity (London: Reaktion Books, 1997), 99. 7 Ibid., 13. 8 Ibid., 14. 9 Matt Hills, Fan Culture (London: Routledge, 2002), 113. 10 Colvin, “‘The Big Fellow Is Dead!’: Michael Collins as Celebrity and Nationalist Martyr,” in

this volume.

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study of Michael Collins to illustrate the construction of national fame as a result of his heroic qualities in leadership. Michael Collins was the Director of Intelligence for the ira, Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Army, and ne- gotiator of the Home Rule Treaty. As a revolutionary leader, he was popularly claimed as “The Big Fellow” on 22nd August 1922, in County Cork, Ireland. The media response to Collins’ death reflected and reinforced tensions between Ireland and Britain in national discourses. His death led to a national mourn- ing and popular identification that paved his celebrity status. The way in which Collins’ national fame was constructed differs from the nationwide popularity of most celebrities these days. In this respect, Mira Moshe’s work11 is useful to consider. In The Walk of Shame, Mira Moshe examines Israeli Celebs Awards as a cultural site that articulates national fame and demonstrates shifts from earlier forms of heroism in the Israeli nation. In 1953 in the State of Israel, the Minister of Education initiated the bestowal of the prestigious prize to citizens that contributed merit-based talent to the development of the nation. These citizens “displayed excellent achievement, have brought about a breakthrough in their fields or have made a special contribution to Israeli society” and were awarded in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education and the Mayor of Jerusalem.12 However, the celebration of heroic deeds declined as time progressed. Unlike nationwide celebration of achieve- ments, the Israel Celebs Awards are offered to those who contribute to the Israeli gossip scene. Moshe shows that Israeli citizens are particularly being awarded for illegal parking, drug use, and contributions to “trash culture.” These examples illustrate how classical forms of heroism and merit shifted towards being a media spectacle in acts of national cohesion.

In the contemporary celebrity culture, national fame as a media spectacle follows Daniel Boorstin’s definition of celebrities. For Boorstin, celebrities are public figures that are known for “well-knowness.” James Monaco further highlights that “Celebrities are, of course, well-known. But people have been well-known, more or less, for centuries.”13 Unlike heroes of the nineteenth century, celebrities now “needn’t have done—needn’t do—anything special. Their function isn’t to act—just to be…To a large extent, celebrity has entirely

11 See Moshe’s chapter in this volume: “Celebrity Awards, Fan Communities and the Recon- struction of ‘High’ and ‘Low’ Cultures.”

12 Mira Moshe, “The ‘Israel Celebs Awards’: The Walk of Shame on the Way to Fame,” in The Walk Of Shame, eds. Mira Moshe and Nicoleta Corbu (New York, ny: Nova Science Pub- lishers, 2013), 77–92.

13 James Monaco, Celebrity: The Media as Image Makers (New York: Dell Pub Co., 1978), 5.

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superseded heroism.”14 In this view, celebrities supporting their nation need not be heroic. Crucially, they only need to be “well known” for the national values they signify.

In scholarly literature, there are three studies linking celebrities with nation which are useful to consider for an analysis of the discursive and industrial con- struction of celebrities in Canada. These studies are those of Joshua Gamson, Julie Rak and Mary Caudle Beltrán. For Gamson,

[C]elebrity culture is built on major American fault lines; simultaneous pulls on the parts of producers and audiences alike to celebrate individual distinction and the equality of all, to demonstrate that success is available to all and available only to the special, to instate and to undermine a meritocratic hierarchy, to embrace and attack authority.15

Here, Gamson points out how celebrities function to support American na- tional ideologies of individuality and democratic equality. While in a Canadian context, Rak expands on this to suggest that the greatness of a celebrity can be ideologically linked to the greatness of a nation. The greatness of Canadian celebrities refers to them embracing cherished national values that are of- ten opposed to American ideologies. Hence, Beltrán considers stardom as a national force, yet one with conflicting modes of operation. These modes of operation can be observed in Canadian celebrity culture. Gamson, Rak and Beltrán’s research are significant because they indicate a link between celebri- ties and their nations. However, the industrial and discursive process in which authenticity of celebrities is constructed by Canadian governments, media and businesses has not yet been studied in popular culture.

Popular representations show that authenticity of famous Canadian person- alities is often established through intimacy with Northern nature. The repre- sentation of Northern nature in wild, vast spaces and cold climatic conditions is a recurring theme in Canadian popular culture and academic studies. In these representations, Mounties, maple leaf, ice/snow, ice hockey, Canucks, polar bears, and vast landscapes of wilderness are popular symbols of the Canadian North. In his study of celebrity endorsements of environmental conserva- tion, Dan Brockington states that wildlife and nature is the “ product of care- ful, calculated manipulations and editing” in cultural practices.16 In Canada,

14 Ibid., 5–6. 15 Joshua Gamson, Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America (Berkeley: University

of California Press, 1994), 12. 16 Dan Brockington, “Powerful Environmentalisms: Conservation, Celebrity and Capital-

ism,” Media Culture Society 30 (2008): 565.

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selective images of Northern nature are often associated with representations of Canadian celebrities but this aspect has not been explored in academic studies yet. The selected images of Northern nature in the Canadian context serve to authenticate celebrities as well as help to authenticate the Canadian nation. As Richard Dyer states, “Authenticity is both a quality necessary to the star phenomenon to make it work, and also the quality that guarantees the authenticity of other particular values a star embodies.”17 The primordial and organic qualities of Canadian nature not only serve to authenticate a star im- age but also the national value that the image embodies. Since maintenance of territorial boundaries is the premise for a unifying national identity, the global reach of online fame may threaten national interests of media corporations producing and circulating Northern and other national symbols in Canada. Nevertheless, corporations often reclaim national identity of celebrities for development of national and transnational brands. The expression of a domi- nant national identity also helps fans to identify with online celebrities. These symbolic practices of identification in Canadian fame have not been critically investigated in media and cultural studies. This chapter will fill this gap in rela- tion to online fame that may both challenge and restore national identity of celebrities.

2 Online Fame

Before I delve into the question of how online celebrities are constructed in relation to the nation, it is important to define who/what is an online celebrity. I define online celebrities as public personalities that become famous over the Internet as well as those who are constructed through traditional media but the Internet supports their fame in offline and online settings. There are thus two distinct types of online celebrities. First, there are online-only (or fame due to online presence) celebrities. This type of online celebrity refers to In- ternet users, bloggers or fans who are constructed as celebrities and who may or may not cross over to a celebrity status in traditional media. In this chapter, case studies of Justin Bieber will illustrate how online fans become celebrities. Second, there are traditional celebrities, who now have an online presence. This type of online celebrity refers to those who are already famous in print and broadcast media industries, but are also present on the Internet. Canadian star Lisa Ray’s media representations can be considered as examples of rein- forcing offline fame while she established an online presence.

17 Richard Dyer, “A Star is Born and the Construction of Authenticity,” in Stardom: Industry of Desire, ed. Christine Gledhill (London: Routledge, 1991), 133.

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The understanding of online celebrities can be informed by Kerry Ferris and Jade Alexander’s work on local celebrities and roller derby. Kerry Ferris describes a local celebrity as a public figure that is “treated as famous only by and for their fan audiences.”18 Alexander, in this volume, draws on Ferris and points out the significance of local celebrities in terms of their increased accessibility. Alexander specifically maps the celebrity fan asymmetry in localised contexts that offer stronger opportunities to identify with “realness” of a talented self.19 With the rise of social media, local celebrities, both online and offline, have opportunities to express talent in a participatory, immedi- ate, and accessible manner. This kind of engagement contrasts past forms of interactions where fans would engage with celebrity texts in ways that were fixed in time and space. The lack of a two-way communication and active participation with celebrities led early researchers to conceptualise fans as “passive consumers and cultural dupes.”20 The impact of Internet technolo- gies changes the production, distribution and reception of celebrity texts into participatory ones. In this respect, both fans and celebrities have greater con- trol and can reproduce texts in variable ways to construct popularity. These changes also shift the traditional meaning of fame into one that is immediately accessible to active Internet users and can generate “overnight sensations” in certain conditions. Like local celebrities, their boundaries with fans are less distinct. Local celebrities can be online, but not all online celebrities are nec- essarily local. Online celebrities may differ from local celebrities in the sense that their renowned fame is not limited to fans in a closed network. Online celebrities are able to reach out to global fans in the same or increased manner observed in traditional stardom. At the same time, Internet fame is a distinct sort of celebrity, which is often temporary, fragile, and understood to be fleet- ing unless it gets connected to sociological conditions in the offline “star” system and maintained within existing social discourses.

To understand the sociological conditions of online fame, it is important to address the questions: In an offline setting, who can become an online celeb- rity? And, what are the sociological conditions of an online celebrity’s produc- tion? Here, inspired from Francesco Alberoni’s work, I introduce three different

18 Kerry O. Ferris and Scott R. Harris, “Stargazing: Celebrity, Fame, and Social Interaction,” in Contemporary Sociological Perspectives, eds. Valerie Jenness, Irvine O’Brien and Jody O’Brien (New York and London: Routledge, 2011), 6–8.

19 See Jade Alexander, “Touching Fame: Exploring Interactional Dynamics between Local Celebrities and Fans in Sydney’s Roller Derby Scene,” in this volume.

20 Henry Jenkins, Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture (New York: New York University Press, 2006), 37.

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micro and macro sociological conditions that are necessary for attaining the status and textual representation of an online celebrity. These conditions can be applied to the case studies of Canadian online celebrities presented later in this chapter. There are microsociological conditions for the construction and maintenance of an online celebrity in everyday life. These conditions are (1) Social mobility (i.e., anyone can change his or her social status based on achievement or visibility); (2) social role of a hero who may or may not have behavioural traits of serving a community but is a role model for self- achievement; and (3) emotional affinity in para-social interaction with fans. In contrast, there are macrosociological conditions required for online celebri- ties. These conditions are (1) large audience or large number of fans (e.g., at least over a million online users); (2) development, use, and convergence of technologies in mass communication (i.e., the Internet, telecommunications, print, broadcast media or film); and (3) broader media discourses in which online celebrity texts are produced. Once these criteria are met, traditional media often represent online celebrities within existing social discourses. These offline representations, in turn, help to stabilise their Internet fame that is otherwise fleeting in nature.

The sociological conditions for the construction of online celebrities are parallel to what Francesco Alberoni, Richard Dyer and Barry King identify as classical conditions for industrial production of stardom in traditional set- tings. These conditions have long existed in the Hollywood studio system. Francesco Alberoni identifies that these factors operate and determine the nature of production, distribution, and consumption of a heavily controlled star. In this context, Alberoni uses the phrase “powerless elite” to describe traditional celebrities in Hollywood. He suggests that the institutional power of celebrities is very limited or non-existent. For him, the celebrities’ lack of power contrasts with their actions that “arouse a considerable […] degree of interest.”21 However, unlike the Hollywood studio system, the cultural pro- cesses of online constructions do not necessarily conform to industrial control involved in ownership of production, distribution, and reception. For online celebrities, the conditions shift from legal and bureaucratic control to decen- tralised expressions of individual talent. Unlike the control of studio system and other media corporations, Internet sites are often not officially regulated in a centralised media network. In this social setting, the semiotic construc- tion and maintenance of an online celebrity text vary in ways that make the

21 Francesco Alberoni, “The Powerless ‘Elite’: Theory and Sociological Research on the Phenomenon of the Stars,” in Sociology of Mass Communications: Selected Readings, ed. Dennis McQuail (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972), 75.

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text immediate and accessible to Internet users and fans, thus subject to reinvention.

Celebrities who have become famous in traditional media can also advance their fame on the Internet. In these cases, media often contrast extraordinary performances in offline settings with ordinary expressions on the Internet. The media construction of celebrities often relies on these contrasts. On the Inter- net, celebrities can share individual expressions through their own media text on websites. Blogs are frequently used as extratextual devices to construct and maintain a celebrity’s self beyond his/her primary texts in popular media. In blogs, celebrities can post entries about his or her ordinary self and any viewer or fan can read and respond to them. Based on origin of production, there are three types of celebrity blogs. Celebrity blogs can be produced by (1) cultural industries, (2) celebrities, and (3) fans. Some cultural industries such as televi- sion stations and tabloid press create and maintain celebrity blogs where fans can interact with celebrities. These blogs can be considered part of a coherent system of promoting celebrities that carefully attracts targeted audiences.22 In many cases, celebrities maintain their own websites or blogs.

In producing and maintaining personal websites and blogs, celebrities have opportunities to post professional and personal information about their selves. Sometimes celebrities respond to comments on fan sites as well. Such practices indicate that, as David Marshall argues, the traditional “representa- tional gap” between the celebrity and fan is narrowing down.23 For Marshall, the narrowing of the “representational gap” between the celebrity and the fan is driven by the emphasis on the “presentation” of self. He states that the ideol- ogy of individualism has always been a central element of consumer culture. Celebrity culture has particularly been part of “discourses of self that makes individuality concrete and real.”24 This discourse is what drives the construc- tion and maintenance of the rhetoric of authenticity in the construction of fame. In order to establish authenticity, celebrities are usually constructed through the extratextual dimensions of private, ordinary self on the Internet.

The contrast of ordinariness on the Internet and extraordinariness of offline talent, coupled with accessibility and immediacy, is central to the construc- tion of celebrities online. The rise of celebrities on the Internet has become ubiquitous. As scholar Rachel Derkits argues, the “decreased barrier to access

22 David Marshall, “New Media: New Self: The Changing Power of Celebrity,” in The Celebrity Culture Reader, ed. David Marshall (New York: Routledge, 2006).

23 Ibid., 640. 24 Ibid., 635.

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online provides an opening for new formations of celebrity.”25 In fact, journal- ist Rob Williams adds, “A person getting famous after being discovered online is becoming more and more common.”26 One of the online celebrities that illustrate William’s report is Susan Boyle who became famous after performing on Britain Got’s Talent and 32 million viewers saw her singing there on You- Tube. Also, us-based Tila Tequila became famous for having over 1.3 million friends on MySpace.27 Her popularity was then enhanced by being featured in traditional media such as Stuff, Maxim, Time and Penthouse. This offline fame, in turn, led to her selection as a host for Fuse tv’s Pants-Off Dance-Off and mtv’s popular reality show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. Similarly, Cana- dian blogger Lara Doucette became one of the Internet’s most popular online celebrities. Doucette became popular as a videoblogger on Tiki Bar tv, one of the Internet’s earliest and most popular video podcasts. Thousands of Internet fans celebrated her online performance. She became so famous that she was hired by Canada’s cbc television to host their late night program Exposure.

The above examples show that talented individuals can gain popular recog- nition on the Internet. This recognition is significant for Canadian talent that often feels dominated by Hollywood in America. Once recognised on the Inter- net, mainstream media, including prime-time broadcast news, proclaim these artists as celebrities and represent them within existing social discourses. Online celebrities sustain their fame by subjecting themselves to the larger, on- demand gaze of millions of fans through both online and traditional media. In this way, online stars are associated with offline fame. To illustrate the creation of an online star in the Canadian context, I will look at Justin Bieber’s stardom and examine how he has been represented in social discourses of the nation.

3 Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber is a Canadian teenage pop star who has become globally famous for his musical talent. Born in the Canadian town of Stratford, Bieber was a fan who received initial recognition for his online performance of songs from art- ists like Usher, Ne-Yo and Stevie Wonder. He attracted a worldwide recognition

25 Rachel Derkits, Lukeford.com: Public Sex, Celebrity and the Internet (Stanford: Stanford University, 2004), 27.

26 Rob William, “Maria Wouldn’t Be First to Find Fame After Discovery Online,” Winnipeg Free Press (2011), A3.

27 Lev Grossman, “Tila Tequila,” Time (2006), accessed February 25, 2014, http://content .time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570728,00.html.

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of around ten million online viewers when his mother, Pattie Mallette, posted his performances on YouTube.28 In 2008, Bieber’s online popularity grabbed attention of Atlanta-based Scooter Braun who became his manager. Soon after, Bieber obtained a recording contract with Island Records and released his first single “One Time” and album My World in 2009 that topped worldwide music charts. Since then, producers, media, and fans have constructed and represented Justin Bieber as a star in Canada and abroad. Bieber’s fame mostly relies on his meritocratic talent. It also relies on questions of authenticity with- in the paradox of the “extraordinary” and “ordinary” that are specific to global and national contexts.

In general, media reports describe Bieber’s extraordinariness of talent with expressions such as “teenage sensation,” “superstar,” and “megastar.” At the same time, the reports indicate his ordinariness in two different ways. On one hand, media recognises how ordinariness complements his extraordinariness—it plays a role of familiarity with which millions of young fans can identify with Justin Bieber as an extraordinary case of merit-based talent. The extraordinary role of Bieber’s ordinariness is expressed in ctv news, reporting on the promo- tion of his film Never Say Never at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel: “Bieber, indeed, is a star of another era—the social networking, era, to be precise.”29 The specific reference to “social networking era” indicates an ordinary everyday life situ- ation in which Bieber’s mother simply wanted to share her son’s videos with relatives by posting them on YouTube. Extraordinarily, viewers worldwide viewed these videos and recognised Justin Bieber’s extraordinary talent. Jus- tin Bieber’s ordinariness thus complements his extraordinary achievements. On the other hand, Justin Bieber is known for overcoming ordinary struggles in the private space of his home, which contrasts extraordinary achievements in a public space. In this respect, media particularly emphasise Bieber’s ordinari- ness in terms of his struggles of growing up in a poor home where his mother did two jobs and raised him as a single parent.30 In light of this background, ctv shows how Justin Bieber is ordinary and, hence, “not perfect”31 when he arrives at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel to promote his film Never Say Never. The report then cites Bieber saying, “I’m a regular teenage boy […] Lots of people

28 Jane Stevenson, “Justin Bieber Hits the Big Time,” Toronto Sun (2009), accessed February 25, 2014, http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/columnists/jane_ stevenson/2009/ 11/16/11765871.html.

29 Constance Droganes, “‘I’m Not Perfect,’ Bieber Says on Return to Canada,” accessed De- cember 6, 2011, http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110201/bieber-toronto-appear ance-110201/.

30 Barry Hertz, review of First Step 2 Forever: My Story, by Justin Bieber, The National Post (2010).

31 Droganes, “‘I’m Not Perfect,’ Bieber Says on Return to Canada.”

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think I’m made by some factory machine. But I worked hard to get here […] I’m going through different struggles and different things in my life.”32 These expressions of ordinariness contrast with Justin Bieber’s extraordinariness as a talented singer. Although Bieber’s authenticity may be questioned in the con- trasts, it is simultaneously addressed through his ordinariness, which is central to constructing his stardom.

4 Authenticity and the Canadian Nation

Justin Bieber’s stardom also relies on the contrast of ordinariness and extraor- dinariness in an imaginary relation to Canada. Canadian production com- panies and media often construct Bieber’s stardom in ways that are specific to the nation. For example, a Canada.com news article, titled “Justin Bieber Fever Threatened by Cold Blast of Overexposure”33 represents his stardom in Northern frontier conditions. The article reviews the vast number of endorse- ment contracts that Bieber has received and his difficulty in handling them. The article imagines this difficulty as a “cold blast of overexposure.”34 Here, the expression “cold blast” conjures up images of snowstorms and wind chills in the Northern frontier. Ethnometeorological studies on Canadian climate show how representations of cold weather are often cultural constructs, mediating national identity in a way that mythically represents endurance and strength of the North. These ordinary frontier conditions created difficulties for earlier settlers in Canada and are imagined to challenge Justin Bieber as well. In this symbolic setting, Justin Bieber’s stardom is understood as an extraordinary achievement of overcoming harsh conditions in an imagined Canadian fron- tier. This cultural production of stardom helps to imagine the nation as strong and extraordinary.

A Toronto Life magazine also illustrates expressions of Canada as frontier nation in Bieber’s stardom. The article, titled “Captain Canuck Goes Hol- lywood,” reports on a Canadian film production that aims to cast Bieber as Captain Canuck.35 According to the article, Bieber’s role as Captain Canuck represents “an honest Mountie-turned-intelligence-agent […who] gained his

32 Ibid. 33 Misty Harris, “Justin Bieber Fever Threatened by Cold Blast of Overexposure.” Postmedia

News, accessed December 6, 2011, http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Justin+Bieber +fever+threatened+cold+blast+overexposure/4144156/story.html.

34 Ibid. 35 Mishki Vaccaro, “Captain Canuck Goes Hollywood: Possible Movie in the Works, with

Justin Bieber as the Red-Caped Crime Fighter,” Toronto Life 28 (2011).

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superpowers from an encounter with aliens while camping.”36 The symbolic as- sociation between Canuck and Mountie in the media representation of Justin Bieber can be read from the scholarly perspectives of Jason Dittmer and Soren Larsen. In their view, the word “Canuck” emerged as a national superhero in Canadian comic books and is now an informal reference to English Canadians. The imagined hero is recognised for strength, endurance, moral integrity, and less aggression.37 These mythical traits of Canadianness are parallel to those of the Mountie in national discourses. Both the Canuck and Mountie emerge from an imagined Northern frontier. In the Toronto Life article, Bieber is par- ticularly associated with “politeness” and “honesty” of a Mountie and repre- sented as a “maple-leaf adorned superhero.”38 The imagining of his “ honesty” and “ politeness” underlines a moral value that has emerged from the endur- ance against ordinary frontier conditions in the colonial history of Canada. The official national symbols of the Mountie and maple leaf in Bieber’s repre- sentation particularly signify frontier conditions of wilderness against which the nation-state was built. A rhetorical question in the Toronto Life article prompts us to imagine and reconstruct the frontier nation further: “But what Canadian super-talent has the gravitas, popularity charm and politeness to represent the True North’s true hero? […] the name that comes to mind is none other than Justin Bieber.”39 The mediation of Bieber’s talent as “True North’s true hero” shows how his authenticity is culturally constructed within national discourses of the North. It imagines harsh ordinary conditions against which Bieber’s extraordinary heroism is established in Canada.

In addition to representing Justin Bieber as “True North’s true hero,” the Toronto Life article helps to imagine Bieber’s fame as morally stronger than that of American stars. The article titled “Captain Canuck Goes Hollywood” suggests how Bieber may encounter imagined frontier conditions of the Wild West in Hollywood. In the film, Bieber plays the role of Captain Canuck that originally represents a Mountie. Like the Mountie represents the Northern frontier in binary relations to the Wild West, the Canuck articulates a “ national identity against that of usa” and is imagined stronger and better than that of its southern counterpart.40 The imagination is rooted in a Canadian frontier ideology whereby the North is harsher than that of the Wild West in America.

36 Ibid. 37 Jason Dittmer and Soren Larsen, “Captain Canuck, Audience Response, and the Project of

Canadian Nationalism,” Social and Cultural Geography 8 (2007). 38 Vaccaro, “Captain Canuck Goes Hollywood.” 39 Ibid. 40 Dittmer and Larsen, “Captain Canuck.”

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For William Katerberg, the “North” of North America particularly acts as a site of imagining a stronger colonial power of Western conquest.41 Here, Bieber figures as a Canuck who not only goes to Hollywood but also reminds of a collective sense of national heroism that is morally stronger than that of the us. The cinematic adaptation of the comic book and its media representa- tion acts as an extratextual element that qualifies Bieber’s stardom in Canada. Both the film and its media representation celebrate Bieber’s talent as a set of Canadian qualities in relation to the us. These representations help to reclaim Bieber’s Canadian national identity in Hollywood as he has migrated to the us for his music career. In the process, the media supports an authentic and sov- ereign representation of the Canadian nation in relation to dominant practices of the us.

The cultural imagination of Justin Bieber as Canada’s national hero can be questioned from the viewpoint of other authors, such as Colvin and Yaron Girsh. In her chapter, “‘The Big Fellow Is Dead!’: Michael Collins as Celebrity and Nationalist Martyr,” Colvin illustrates how national fame is a result of heroic qualities in revolutionary leadership in Ireland and tensions with Britain. Although the media response to Collin’s death was situated in national discourses, his mortality attested merit-based talent and ways in which he challenged his life to secure his nation.42 Yaron Girsh further shows that the notion of heroism in nation continues to be reproduced in contemporary cul- ture. He uses the term “Biebermania” to symbolise adolescents’ global craze for stars such as Justin Bieber. Such popular appeal is observed in imagining national heroes in contemporary celebrity culture. Yet, fame and heroism may not be the same kind of popularity in every nation. He expands his argument by showing how Israeli adolescents consider their parents as personal heroes and their soldiers as collective heroes as they physically fought for their coun- try. For him, the subversion of celebrity worship in Israel is grounded in the fact that “Israeli youth has a clear leaning towards conformity and conservative values. The point of view of Israeli adolescents teaches us the way in which this culture is experienced and understood, and the way it influences youth cul- tures in local contexts.”43 There are some variations in the dichotomy of heroes and celebrities, especially when adolescents admire humanitarian celebrities

41 William Katerberg, “A Northern Vision: Frontiers and the West in the Canadian and American Imagination,” American Review of Canadian Studies 33 (2003): 543–63.

42 Colvin, “‘The Big Fellow Is Dead!’: Michael Collins as Celebrity and Nationalist Martyr,” in this volume.

43 Yaron Girsh, “From Beatlemania to Biebermania: Adolescent’s Views of Heroes and Celeb- rities,” Celebrity: Exploring Critical Issues (2013), accessed February 25, 2014, http://www

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in social and political contexts of national and transnational relations. In- deed, fame carries context-based understandings. It is specific to the context in which it is produced, circulated, and received. In Canada for instance, the defence of an imagined Northern frontier does not require physical acts of protecting human rights. Rather, it is supported by media representation of Northern symbols that overlook social issues of indigenous people and global warming in the geographical north that is 60 degrees and above the latitude. The symbolic practices act as spectacular elements in national identification with and consumption of celebrities. Hence, the construction and reception of celebrities as national heroes in Canada is different from legitimate forms of heroism in other historical and culture contexts, where media spectacle and national branding had a lesser role to play.

5 National Branding in Canadian Fame

Media constructions of Justin Bieber’s stardom also intersect with mundane and banal representations of the nation that contrast official symbols of the Canadian frontier. In media, representations of nation-branded products and markers help to maintain Canada as Justin Bieber’s homeland. The ordinari- ness in consuming these products not only helps to authenticate Justin Bieber’s fame but the Canadian nation as well. In a report on the press conference of Never Say Never, ctv describes how “Canada [is] still home for Bieber.”44 In this context, ctv cites Justin Bieber stating, “I miss Tim Hortons. I miss my friends and my family and my dog Sam.”45 For Bieber, his friends, family, and pet dog represent a situated experiences and personal sense of belonging in the ordi- nary settings of his home and hometown. This personal and ordinary sense of belonging is appropriated by nationwide practices of consuming Tim Hortons’ coffee in Canada.

The national appropriation of situated experiences with Tim Hortons’ coffee raises a question: how far does national branding of local expressions repre- sent authenticity or “realness” of talent? A close reading of Alexander’s chapter in this volume46 prompts us to compare national and local contexts of fame

.inter-disciplinary.net/critical-issues/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/From- Beatlemania -to-Biebermania-Girsh.pdf.

44 Droganes, “‘I’m Not Perfect,’ Bieber Says on Return to Canada.” 45 Ibid. 46 Alexander, “Touching Fame: Exploring Interactional Dynamics between Local Celebrities

and Fans in Sydney’s Roller Derby Scene.”

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and restore authenticity of talent representation. The comparison particularly points out the loss of self in appropriating local experiences as national sym- bols of Canada. In contrast with official symbols such as Mounties and the ma- ple leaf, Tim Hortons’ coffee signifies local, mundane and banal expressions of the nation in Justin Bieber’s stardom. Tim Hortons figures as a national brand that symbolises coffee as a natural product, uniting citizens on a shared sense of authenticity of the land.47 In Canada, the consumption of Tim Hortons’ coffee has gained nationwide popularity due to two main reasons. First, the founder of Tim Hortons coffee was a famous Canadian hockey player, hockey itself being the most popular sport nationally. Tim Hortons’ fame helps to cel- ebrate hockey as a national pastime and, in the process, the Canadian nation. Second, the Canadian population enjoys the ordinary, mundane pleasures of consuming coffee. The marketing of the Tim Hortons franchise as a national brand represents liberation from the state regulation of popular culture.48 The national branding of Tim Hortons coffee becomes a popular cultural marker of Canadian lifestyle. In local spaces, Canadians enjoy natural, mun- dane, and  ordinary pleasures of everyday life as being more authentic than practices originating from the nation state. When appropriated as a national practice, these ordinary pleasures not only mediate Justin Bieber’s authentic- ity as a real Canadian but, in the process, the Canadian nation as well. Thus, Canadian places or products within the nation offer different opportunities to imagine proximity. However, they do not necessarily offer accessibility, in- timacy and pleasure with the expressions of real self. Often, they are cultural constructs that reflect and reproduce ideological boundaries that support exclusion of those who do not conform to national standards. In Canada, as seen in Justin Bieber’s case, this exclusion is imagined on the basis of what America’s Wild West is not or what cannot be included in the Northern fron- tier. Alexander observes the removal of actual physical boundaries and active engagement with fans as an expression of “realness” in celebrity culture.49 This active engagement is significant to expressing authenticity and recognition of local celebrities. Although Alexander’s research focuses on experiences with roller derby skaters in Australia, her observations point out what is being lost

47 Patricia Cormack, “‘True Stories’ of Canada: Tim Hortons and the Branding of National Identity,” Cultural Sociology 2 (2008): 369–84.

48 Ibid. 49 Jade Alexander, “‘It’s Not Breeding That Kind of “I’m an Athlete” Arrogance’: Roller Derby

and the Construction of Local Celebrities,” paper presented at the 2nd Global Conference: Celebrity: Exploring Critical Issues, Lisbon, 2013. Also, see her chapter in this volume.

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in appropriating local, mundane products in Canada: active engagement and interaction with one’s essence that is often mediated as a national self.

The mediation of Bieber’s ordinariness in a national context is reflected in a National Post article as well. In reviewing his celebrity memoir First Step 2: My Story Forever, the article has the following claim: “From humble beginnings in some mythical land called Canada (home of ‘maple syrup and Caramilk bars’) to his ascent to global super-stardom, Bieber exposes himself raw to the world.”50 In this media report, maple syrup, like Tim Hortons coffee, represents ordinariness and authenticity of the raw nature of both Justin Bieber’s stardom and of the Canadian land. Maple syrup is an ordinary, mundane, and natural product in Canada. As a symbol of nature, maple syrup is more authentic than the state-sanctioned emblem of the maple leaf in Canadian bureaucratic af- fairs. The nation branding of maple syrup becomes a symbol of nature that authenticates Justin Bieber as a Canadian and, in the process, the Canadian nation in which his stardom is constructed.

In Justin Bieber’s media representations, the usage of both Tim Hortons and maple syrup reinscribes a territorially-bound identity in the very contrast it creates with state-regulated popular culture.51 The images of these products not only help to identify and authenticate the territorially bounded Canadian nation as the home of these products but also the home or homeland of citi- zens. The underlying premise of associating nature and nation is the shared quest of authenticity and spiritual belonging with land that unifies a collection of people within a territory.52 Members of the land inhabit the territory, a unit of space. As territorial space gives the impression of inhabiting home, narra- tives conflate home and the land, giving roots and boundaries to construct the nation as a homeland.53 In Canada, media narratives represent natural prod- ucts such as Tim Hortons coffee and maple syrup to evoke images of a home- land in which the products originate. While maple syrup naturally originates in Canada, coffee plants originate elsewhere. Yet, for media and other cultural institutions, Tim Hortons’ coffee is as natural as maple syrup because the national origin of its corporation is in Canada. These products, through their origins, authenticate the territorially bounded Canadian nation as a home or homeland of its citizens.

50 Hertz, review of First Step 2 Forever. 51 Cormack, “‘True Stories’ of Canada: Tim Hortons and the Branding of National Identity.” 52 Erin Manning, Ephemeral Territories: Representing Nation, Home, and Identity in Canada

(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003). 53 Guntram Henrik Herb and David H. Kaplan, Nested Identities: Nationalism, Territory, and

Scale (Lanham and Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999).

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In this national context, the ctv report and National Post article54 uses Tim Hortons and maple syrup to symbolise Justin Bieber’s national identifica- tion with his homeland. The article particularly contrasts the ordinariness of Justin Bieber’s Canadian home with the extraordinariness of his “global super- stardom.”55 The paradox of the ordinariness of Canada as “home” and extraor- dinariness of “global stardom” mobilises questions of authenticity of Justin Bieber: Is he an ordinary citizen or extraordinary star? The ongoing desire to know the reality of Justin Bieber helps to create appeal and desire that is central to his stardom. At the same time, the ordinariness of home, both liter- ally and figuratively, authenticates Justin Bieber’s self. It also authenticates the territory of Canada that is both the point of departure and return for the star.

6 Conclusion

The study in this chapter illustrated that both traditional and online media represent and sustain online Canadian celebrities within national discourses. The national identity of online celebrities can be expressed in contrasting ways. At times, media producers and Internet users associate online celebri- ties with official symbols of the nation. In particular, this chapter shows how Justin Bieber’s stardom is articulated in relation to official national symbols such as the Canadian flag, maple leaf, and Mounties. At other times, online celebrities are associated with banal and mundane products and practices that are not sanctioned by the nation-state yet mark “Canadianness” in everyday life. In representations of online celebrities, the North, Captain Canuck, maple syrup, and Tim Hortons often figure and mark “Canadianness.” Some of these markers and products contrast with official symbols as they signify everyday life pleasures of consumption and freedom from the state bureaucracy. Yet, they overlap with official symbols as they signify Canadian myths that largely associate the nation with the dominance of an English Canadian identity in an imagined Northern frontier.

For Canadian cultural institutions, the significance of using national symbols and markers online lies in reclaiming the national identity of celeb- rities. This act of reclaiming is significant when the Internet allows fame to transcend territorial boundaries, for example when celebrities such as Justin Bieber receive contracts in Hollywood after gaining initial online fame. In the historical and political context of Canadian identity crisis, the construction

54 Hertz, review of First Step 2 Forever. 55 Ibid.

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and maintenance of Canadian national symbols might be challenging or less important on the Internet. The maintenance of territorial boundaries, the premise for a unifying national identity,56 may threaten the nationality of an online celebrity. Nevertheless, media and audiences are often able to reclaim Canadian national identity of global celebrities with the help of local symbols that characterise territorial boundaries of the nation.

Indeed, online media discourses engage with those of the nation in offline, territorial settings. In these ways, media producers and audiences are able to mitigate or negotiate what might be perceived as global-national tensions in maintaining online territorial integrity. For example, I have shown that although Justin Bieber is a global star, Canadian media imagine and represent him in relation to urban experiences of his hometown Stratford and national markers of Canada. This Canadian representation occurs despite the fact that most of the time Justin Bieber does not live in Canada. Media corporations such as ctv and National Post produce and represent Justin Bieber as Cana- dian using offline symbols and myths of the nation. The material production of these texts takes place in both online and offline versions of their reports. From a material and symbolic perspective, then, the texts of online celebrities intersect with offline texts of the nation. These expressions of national identity are common with purely offline stardom, but in the online cases, the expres- sions are further supported by the participation of fans.

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