Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies WOMEN’S CELEBRITY IN CANADA: CONTEXTS AND MEMOIRS, 1908-2011 By KATJA LEE, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Katja Lee, September 2014 Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2014) (English) McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: Women’s Celebrity in Canada: Contexts and Memoirs, 1908-2011 AUTHOR: Katja Lee, B.A. (Simon Fraser University), M.A. (University of British Columbia) SUPERVISOR: Professor Lorraine York NUMBER OF PAGES: vii, 298 ii Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies ABSTRACT “Women’s Celebrity in Canada: Contexts and Memoirs, 1908-2011” is equal parts cultural history and literary analysis. It examines the cultural contexts and conditions that shaped the emergence and development of modern celebrity in English Canada, focusing in particular on the role of mass media and bureaucratic policy in the production, dissemination, and consumption of celebrity by Canadians across the twentieth century. Reading celebrity as a function or mode of being and moving in the public sphere, this project historicizes women’s access to that sphere: it examines how ideological constructions of gender and fame have shaped how women in Canada have been able to access and use the tools and technologies of celebrity, and it argues that these conditions have had an impact on how women represent themselves in public life-writing texts. These celebrity autobiographies, this project demonstrates, not only narrate gendered experiences of celebrity but, in their rhetorical strategies and publication conditions, reveal the cultural climate of being and speaking as a famous woman at different historical junctures. In tracing the trends, tactics, and experiments in self-representation over the century, this project is able to uncover and examine the ideological and cultural pressures exerted on public women to perform particular identities and how these women attempted to manage, contest, and negotiate these conditions. iii Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have often said that it takes a village to complete a Ph.D. and my village has been stocked with the most exceptionally lovely people. Of these many fine individuals, there are two who deserve particular praise for their long, selfless service in keeping this village on track, productive, and financially and emotionally stable: my supervisor, Dr. Lorraine York, who has been incredibly generous with her time and unfailingly supportive of all of my professional endeavors, and my charming husband, Ryan Veenstra, who is my rock and who weathers all storms and keeps no record of wrongs, of tempers lost, or dishes undone. In my Hamilton village, I have been well-supported by the faculty, staff, and colleagues in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University. I am indebted to the keen eyes and thoughtful criticisms of my other committee members, Dr. Daniel Coleman and Dr. Mary O’Connor. To Bill and Luciena Veenstra who housed and fed me during my first year of studies: thank you. You made me feel like the argumentative feminist daughter you never had (but should have!). In my Melbourne village I am grateful to the University of Melbourne for facilitating library resources and for the enthusiastic support and inspiration provided by Dr. P. David Marshall and the Persona, Celebrity, Publics Research Group at Deakin University. And I am particularly thankful to my mates, Cos Ambrose and Gemma White, for reminding me of the therapeutic benefits of taking to a dog to the beach. To my old friend, Trevor Smith: what you have taught me about library resources iv Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies and nifty research databases has revolutionized my research—thank you. To Mary Bowden and Hazel Veenstra who ensured that I always had access to Canadian research databases: thank you thank you thank you. I know you both made significant sacrifices to make that happen. During my tenure as a Ph.D. student, three brand new little people were born into my village. To Angus Hamilton, Brigette Hamilton, and Aubrey Allen: you are beautiful, crazy little creatures who perform the miraculous function of reminding us about what really matters in life. To my extraordinary in-laws, Fred and Hazel Veenstra: it should be poetry not prose that records what your constant, loving support through the years has meant to me. To my parents, Melanie Lee and Dan Robinson: thank you for weathering this life-long love affair with books and never once suggesting my time or money might be better spent. This degree and research was funded with the financial assistance of family members, a McMaster University scholarship, and a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. And, to conclude, permit me to once again sing the praises of Lorraine York and Ryan Veenstra without whom I would be lost and villageless. v Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction – Theorizing the Celebrity Autobiography in Canada .……………………..…… 1 Celebrity Autobiography: Context and Theory …………………………………………..…. 8 The Canadian Terrain: The Terrain in Canada ……………………………………………... 31 (Not All) The Ladies in the House …………………………………………………………. 42 Chapter 1 – Women’s Fame in Canada: 1890-1950……………………………….………….. 47 Celebrity Culture in Canada …………………………………………………………..……. 52 Mass Media and Celebrity in Canada ...……………………………………….…………… 60 Gender and Celebrity in Canada ……………………………………………………...……. 70 Chapter 2 – Trends, Tactics, and Experiments in Early Twentieth-Century Celebrity Autobiography ..……………………………………………………… 85 Traditions…………………………………………………………………………………….87 Twentieth-Century Innovations and Adaptations …………………………………..……… 95 Mazo de la Roche: A Ringer for Changes ……………………………………………….. 121 Nellie McClung: Piece by Piece ……………………………………………………….…. 130 Chapter 3 – L.M. Montgomery: “The Alpine Path” Negotiates a “Recognized Place Among Good Workers in My Chosen Profession” ……………………… 144 “The Alpine Path” ………………………………………………………………………… 147 Chapter 4 – Women’s Fame in Canada: 1950s-2010 ……………………………………..… 180 Celebrity Culture in Canada ………………………………………………………………. 183 Mass Media and Celebrity in Canada …………………………………………………..… 192 Gender and Celebrity in Canada …………………………………………………..……… 210 Chapter 5 – Music Celebrity in Canada: National Ties and the Diva Dilemma …………..… 226 Music Celebrity in Canada ……………………………………………………………...… 230 National Ties and the Diva Dilemma …………………………………………………..… 238 Conclusion – Celebrity Autobiography: The Off-Broadway Show ...……………………..… 269 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………..… 281 vi Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig.1. “Title Page,” 1924, The Eminent American Comedienne Marie Dressler in The Life Story of an Ugly Duckling. An Autobiographical Fragment in Seven Parts …….. 85 Fig.2. “Madame Albani’s Decorations,” c. 1911, Forty Years of Song ......………..… 110 Fig.3. “Two Musical Autographs,” c. 1911, Forty Years of Song ............................... 110 Fig.4. “From My Letter Book,” c. 1911, Forty Years of Song ..................................... 110 Fig.5. “Fifth Installment,” 1917, Courtesy of York University Libraries, Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections ........................................ ........................................ 176 Fig.6. “Enlarged ‘Fifth Installment,’” 1917, Courtesy of York University Libraries, Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections ................................................................... 176 vii Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies 1 Ph.D. Thesis – K. Lee; McMaster University – English and Cultural Studies Introduction Theorizing the Celebrity Autobiography in Canada The celebrity autobiography is by no means an unfamiliar or obscure genre. Even if you have never read one, you’ve certainly seen one and been exposed to the powerful print, radio or television marketing momentum that accompanies them. These texts are so common that the production of one has ceased to be remarkable; if it is not expected it is certainly unsurprising when a famous individual announces that she too has rendered her life story into an “honest,” “profound,” “remarkable,” “behind the scenes,” and “deeply moving” text.1 We are in the throes of what Leigh Gilmore has termed a “long memoir boom” (“Neoconfessional” 658), a period in which popular memoir production by both well-known and unknown individuals has come to form a significant, even dominant, portion of the non-fiction market.2 The celebrity autobiography, while neither the cause nor driving force behind this boom (Rak, Boom 9), has a prominent place within it: these texts are popular with publishers, relatively easy to market and therefore highly visible, and have significant publicity and profit potential. Moreover, there is a strong market for these texts: people, in general, want to know more about the prominent individuals circulating in the public sphere and a great many of these individuals are willing to craft a narrative in response to that demand. The recent nature of the memoir boom, however, does not mean that the