ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the passage of celebrities into politics and the connection between the phenomenon and the re-democratization process. It examines how one can identify a particular sub-continental celebrity phenomenon? What are the distinctive features of South American celebrity culture? What are the main processes through which celebrity status is obtained south of the equator, and how is celebrity capital converted into other forms of symbolic and material capital? The chapter aims to answer these questions by constructing a tentative historical narrative of celebrity power in the two South American nations with the largest populations, territories and markets – Brazil and Argentina. It also examines three different historical stages in South American celebrity culture, analyzing the intersection of local political and social processes, economic and technological developments in the cultural industries and the career patterns adopted by major stars/celebrities. The mediatization of politics was not confined solely to professional politicians during campaign periods, eventually affecting the system as a whole.
