Harriet Fletcher

Dr Harriet Fletcher is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at Anglia Ruskin University, UK. She is an interdisciplinary Media and Cultural Studies scholar with expertise in the study of popular culture, particularly in relation to celebrity, the Gothic, gender and feminism.

Harriet researches the intersections of celebrity and the Gothic in literature, media and popular culture. This began with her PhD thesis ‘Gothic Celebrity: Fame and Immortality From Lord Byron to Lady Gaga’ (Lancaster University 2016-2021), which explored celebrity and the Gothic across multiple media, including literature, portraits, photography, film, television, art and social media.

She is further developing her interests in celebrity and the Gothic through a project that explores the cultural history of the Gothic and horror actress in theatre, film and television, with a focus on themes of performance, aesthetics, stardom and age. She has several forthcoming publications related to this project.

She is also developing her research on gender and celebrity through an interdisciplinary project that explores the feminist reclamation of the ‘bimbo’ figure. She is interested in mapping a broad cultural history of the bimbo and how this sits alongside contemporary feminist movements and timely reappraisals of women in 1990s and 2000s popular culture. The project involves the study of celebrity culture, film, television, social media and fashion.

Her research on Andy Warhol deals with the construction of his celebrity image, his interests in fame in the late 20th century, and how aspects of his work can be described as 'Gothic' in their preoccupation with death and decay. She has written on Warhol's celebrity portraits and self-portraits from the 1960s-80s, with particular focus on his images of Marilyn Monroe. She has a broad knowledge of Warhol's career and his relationship with celebrity culture.