"""America's sweetheart,"" Chris Evert: Celebrity femininity and tennis in postmodern America"
Spencer, Nancy Elizabeth
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/20484
Description
Title
"""America's sweetheart,"" Chris Evert: Celebrity femininity and tennis in postmodern America"
Author(s)
Spencer, Nancy Elizabeth
Issue Date
1996
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Slowikowski, Synthia S.
Department of Study
Kinesiology and Community Health
Discipline
Kinesiology Health
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Biography
American Studies
Women's Studies
Recreation
Language
eng
Abstract
"Chris Evert is one of the most significant cultural figures to emerge in late twentieth century America. Her storied career has produced a ubiquitous image that remains highly visible within culture. As an ""American sweetheart,"" Evert draws her meaning as a sign for national/gendered identity largely from the differences embodied in her well-chronicled rivalry with Martina Navratilova. Although Martina eclipsed her career record in tournament wins and earnings, ""Chrissie"" remains one of the predominant female sports icons of the postmodern era. Evidence of a profuse literature detailing her career, image and effects within culture stands in sharp contrast to the dearth of scholarly literature which probes meanings of countless narratives about Evert's career. This dissertation opens a space for the theoretical consideration of salient features and meanings produced in the dispersion of Evert's image. The underlying theoretical strategies provided by conjunctural analysis are informed by feminist cultural studies, poststructuralism, performative theory and postmodernism. The strategies employed do not seek to uncover truths so much as to examine the means by which power and truths are produced within culture."
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