Journal Article Analysis

Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author and is well known for his works such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina, which depicts Russian life and attitudes in the nineteenth century. These works become known worldwide when the invention of the printing press made reproducing images and books faster and more precise by the end of the nineteenth century. This new technology also brought the invention of telegraphs, telephones, and cinematograph. These advances created a sharp rise in the demand for books and images. Leo Tolstoy dramatic life and diaries that were put onto paper is exactly what people were looking for. He drew the mass media attention because he was known as so many things that included but is not limited to the great writer of the Russian land and an unparalleled artist.

“Be not afraid of greatness”: Leo Tolstoy and Celebrity by Michael Denner (2009) is a journal article about the difficulties that the great author Leo Tolstoy had being a celebrity. He did not like being in the spotlight and did not think that he deserved the public praise that he got. Leo Tolstoy had many images of himself in the public because of the many works that he produced. The thousands of letters, journal entries, and autobiographical gave people different ideas about his personality that made him famous. This demand created pictures, paintings, films, caricatures, stories and images and this left Leo Tolstoy felling preyed upon by the media. This left the authoring feeling like nobody could be that great.

Leo Tolstoy wanted to be remembered as a hero and not as a celebrity. He wanted readers to see him for who he was which was authorized. He did not want to lose his self image or control of his image by being a celebrity. The article explains that when a relationship is developed with the mass media that one loses control of their image because of an interaction with the mass culture. This then forces the celebrity’s performance to feed back that image and he or she has to respond publicly to his or her own image. This left Tolstoy feeling unauthenticated, exploited, exaggerated, and traded. He felt that he had to take his image seriously because it was always interfering or threatening to taking over the real Tolstoy.

The article explains that Leo Tolstoy turned his back on fame, but fame could not ignore him. Famous contemporary popular culture iconography of Tolstoy was images of him with his hands tucked in his rope around his waist and his eyes looking to the side paying attention to his work and ignoring the attention that he received from the mass culture. He much preferred anonymity and a simple life and more he preached it, the more he was put into the spotlight.

This article is helpful in understanding what people of the mass culture want. Although this icon was alive in the nineteenth century, it can be compared to current events. It shows that when someone famous talks or writes about their worldly views, fans will listen and may even take on the same position. This is important to understand in the world of business because by understanding what people want and who they look up to will give the company direction in advertising and products.

References
Denner, M. (2009). “Be not afraid of greatness”: Leo Tolstoy and Celebrity. The Journal
Of Popular Culture (42).4. P 614-0645.