Abstract

This essay provides a succinct consideration of some of the key constituents of what might be called “European Star Studies.” Rather than a comprehensive survey of the academic literature on European stars and stardom originating across Europe, it is limited to a relatively small sample of influential studies published in English. Divided into three main sections – pre-Stars, Stars and post-Stars – the essay examines the following: European studies of stardom that pre-dated the publication of Richard Dyer’s Stars in 1979; the key concepts and methods used by Dyer in Stars; and a range of star studies published in the twenty-first century by European film scholars, some of which have advanced Dyer’s work while others have departed significantly from it in order to address a different set of topics and use alternative methodologies for exploring these. Even an examination limited to studies that have be published in English indicates that Star Studies has spread across many European nations, large and small, and that important work on film stars and stardom has been conducted, particularly since 2000. All of which has been instrumental in sustaining the vitality and diversity of this rich branch of film studies.