Perpetual Becoming, Deferred Arrival: The Author-Hero in the Age of Digital Celebrity

Abstract:This article builds on the theorization of the Bildungsroman as advanced by Nancy Armstrong and Franco Moretti. This narrative form is particularly suited to the expression of American self-formation, which ever since the formalization of the "birth of the nation" and "pursuit of happiness" ethos via the Declaration of Independence (1776), has elided labor, work ethic, and the interminable pursuit of fame and fortune with the formation of character and a secure identity. Since their inception, YouTube and Instagram (2005 and 2010, respectively) have steadily grown to replace traditional forms of media and entertainment, and in turn, inscribed a new form of digital celebrity known as the "influencer." While recent research by Chris Stokel-Walker, amongst others, has analyzed this phenomenon in relation to the displacement of television, we see an even more pertinent connection with the novel. In particular, the narrative form of the Bildungsroman can be seen to be restructured in video form, constituting a uniquely twenty-first century narrative of development in which the influencer can be read as both author and hero. We term this process digital-bildungs. These narratives, we argue, reproduce the conventions of the classical Bildungsroman in a way that is conservative in its rehashing of the narratological imperatives of courtship, marriage, reproduction, and land acquisition, yet consistent with the allure of twenty-first century technology, luxury, and glamour.