We are entering an economy based not on information, but on image. The
result is a phantasmagoric capitalism in which labor performers gain
value on markets through their work of self-presentation. After tracin
g the evolution of labor performance through the romantic and modernis
t styles, this article contends that performers now intentionally comp
ose their persona for the market, and do so through methods learned fr
om the celebrity world. The language of iconography, the discipline th
at investigates the meanings of images, reveals the methods through wh
ich persona is composed, these being personification, attribute and al
legory. By contrast to literature on the postmodern self, the article
concludes that this phantasmagoric style of self-presentation does not
entail a fracturing of self. Rather, aspirants to economic success mu
st have a stronger and more determined sense of self than ever before,
since they must strategically adapt persona to meet market demand. (C
) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.