Private self in celebrification: Discursive patterns of self-subjugation, self-demotion and self-segmentation

Abstract

In celebrification – the production of a celebrity identity – the public persona occupies a central position, but little is known about how the private self is sustained. This study examines how music artists negotiate their private selves interpersonally during celebrification through meaning-making processes, drawing on relational dialectics theory. Interviews were conducted with 17 Finnish music artists, and contrapuntal discourse analysis was employed to identify and interpret the discursive patterns and meanings that emerged in these negotiations. The findings reveal three patterns: self-subjugation, which suppresses the private self in favour of the public persona and external expectations; self-demotion, which downplays the public persona and fosters egalitarian interaction and personal disclosure; and self-segmentation, which compartmentalises private and public selves across relational contexts. Self-subjugation represents a shift towards a monologic self and associated interpersonal challenges, whereas self-demotion and self-segmentation reflect a dialogic self that creates space for the private self. Together, these patterns underscore the centrality of interpersonal communication in self-negotiation, where the private self is sustained through individual agency, contextual boundaries, relational symmetry and regulated self-disclosure. This study advances understanding of the communicative patterns that underpin the relational and personal wellbeing of artists and other celebrity practitioners in domains reliant on public persona construction. The findings contribute to persona studies by illuminating the conceptual interdependence of private and public selves. Practical implications include strategies for sustaining the private self in increasingly public social environments.