ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Mikhail Zadornov’s celebrity as a phenomenon born out of the tension between Soviet and post-Soviet Russian identities and out of the opposition “Russia vis-à-vis the West.” I argue that Zadornov is a self-constructed celebrity who has defined his public identity by tapping into Russians’ feeling of injured national pride, and who increased his fandom by encouraging his compatriots to share stereotypes of Russianness. I rely on Western theories of public space (Habermas 1999) and celebrity culture (Dyer 1998; Rojek 2006; Turner 2004) as well as studies of Soviet and post-Soviet popular culture (Graham 2003; MacFadyen 2001) to provide a theoretical framework for the investigation of the Zadornov phenomenon. Though my analysis adopts the methodological tools of sociological studies (using such resources as FORM, ROMIR) and political science, it is fundamentally grounded in an interpretative analysis of Zadornov’s texts, which encompass different genres and media, including Zadornov’s shows, as recorded on audio and video tapes and DVDs, and the short stories they are based on; his official website; and press materials comprising Zadornov’s interviews and articles.
