Raffaella Carrà and the Media Stardom, Performance, and Gender in Post-1968 Italy and Beyond

Raffaella Carrà and the Media offers a comprehensive critical study of “the queen of Italian television,” whose five-decade career transformed Italian popular culture and resonated internationally.

Drawing on cultural studies, gender studies, and television studies, the book situates Carrà’s stardom as a challenge to traditional Catholic-influenced social norms. It demonstrates how her originality in performance, music, and television formats continually adapted to shifting socio-political contexts, producing a cultural phenomenon that extended beyond Italy to Spain and Latin America. As the first major English-language publication on Carrà, the volume provides a new lens for understanding intersections of gender, celebrity, and media across borders. The book develops its arguments through three case-study chapters spanning Carrà’s career. The 1970s highlight her rise through variety shows such as Canzonissima and Milleluci, where she crafted a bold yet carefully balanced star persona that pushed cultural boundaries while appeasing traditional audiences. The 1980s explore her dual reputation as both a household name in Italy and a transnational figure abroad, including her work in Argentina and the United States, and her innovative attempts to connect diasporic audiences through live broadcasts. From the 1990s onward, Carrà reinvented her image through formats such as Carràmba! Che sorpresa, pioneering “emotainment” and reconfiguring discourses on aging, motherhood, and emotional connection on television. These analyses underscore her ability to remain culturally relevant while expanding the expressive possibilities of television.

This volume will be of particular interest to scholars and students of Italian cultural studies, television studies, celebrity studies, and gender studies, as well as those researching European and Latin American popular culture. It also provides a valuable resource for courses examining media history, stardom, and the cultural politics of performance.