Asian cultures of authenticity: the authentic self narrative in sociological perspective or the case of Tóc Tiên’s celebrity biography

Abstract

ABSTRACT While celebrity studies scholarship on authenticity have concentrated on the study of Western celebrities, this article studies an Eastern celebrity through a sociological lens. I conducted a discourse analysis of gossip websites about Tóc Tiên, a Vietnamese singer and celebrity, that showcases the authentic self narrative as a discursive feature of a broader Asian Culture of Authenticity (CoA). I conclude that, given the global and culturally hybrid nature of the world that we live in today, the CoA can be found in hybrid formats in the Asian context as well. The paper shows how these discursive forms of the CoA play out within the celebrity biography of an Asian celebrity like Tóc Tiên and for the context of an Asian society like Vietnam through its cultural specificities and global dimensions. The authentic self narrative is a concept aimed at reflecting on some of the life dilemmas generated in the transition from traditional to modern societies, particularly of a Vietnamese diasporic young and female audience that potentially reflect the characteristics of Tóc Tiên’s international audience.