Persona
Encyclopedia
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role
or a character
played by an actor
. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask
. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan
word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον (prosōpon). Its meaning in the latter Roman period changed to indicate a "character" of a theatrical performance.
Assuming personas was a Greek and Roman tradition that was abandoned during the Medieval period. Instead of wearing masks the actors assumed their characters' personality. As part of a teaching strategy, teachers in Iowa state in the US have adopted this method to teach their students Shakespeare. The students were asked to become the character to reduce their alienation from the text and to assist them to reflect on the character's beliefs, values and motivations. This experiment achieved a few goals: 1) the student was able to connect to the concepts and context. 2) They are able to construct meaning. 3) Allows students to choose whether to like or dislike Shakespearean text.
Usually the performers assume a role that matches the music they sing on stage
, though they may also be composers.
For that reason, many performers make use of a Persona. Some artists create various characters, specially if their career is long and go through many changes over time. That is the case, for example, of David Bowie
, initially largely recognizable as the alien Ziggy Stardust and later as The Thin White Duke
. More than just artistic pseudonym
s, they are independent characters used in the artist's shows and albums (in the case, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
and Station to Station
). However, in music, a Persona does not always mean a change. Some authors, for instance, has noted that Bob Dylan
's charisma is accredited largely to his almost stereotyped image, always with a harmonica
, guitar
, and with his distinctive hair, voice and clothing. The persona also serves to claim a right or to draw attention to a certain subject. That is the case of Marilyn Manson
and his interest on death
and morbidity, and Madonna
and her interest on sexuality
.
The concept of Persona in music was introduced by Edward T. Cone
in his The Composer's Voice (1974), that dealt with the relation between the lyrical self of a song's lyric
s and its composer. Nowadays the concept of Persona can be used to refer also to an instrumentalist, like a pianist
and his playing style, although the term is more commonly used to refer to the voice and performance nuances of a vocalist in a studio album
or in a live concert, such as in the cases of Maria Bethânia
, Elis Regina
, Edith Piaf
, Nina Simone
and also Mick Jagger
of The Rolling Stones
, who takes the guise of Satan
in the song "Sympathy for the Devil
" and of a housewife in "Slave
", etc. It's also remarkable in the case of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
by The Beatles
, which presents a group persona, specially the character Billy Shears "played by" drummer Ringo Starr
.
s under various guises (see Carl Jung
and his psychology, and Persona (psychology)
).
Advertising businesses base some of their business models on internet personas. They monitor pictures, browsing history and the ads people surfing the internet generally select or choose to click and based on that data they tailor their merchandise and targeted audience. Free social network sites rely on advertising companies to maintain their internet presence. They collaborate to develop terms of agreement over sharing data such that both parties benefit from the information. Therefore internet personas run the risk of becoming a target for fraudulent actions.
Role
A role or a social role is a set of connected behaviours, rights and obligations as conceptualised by actors in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behaviour and may have a given individual social status or social position...
or a character
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
played by an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask
Mask
A mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan
Etruscan language
The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον (prosōpon). Its meaning in the latter Roman period changed to indicate a "character" of a theatrical performance.
In communication studies
In the study of communication, persona is a term given to describe the versions of self that all individuals possess. Behaviours are selected according to the desired impression an individual wishes to create when interacting with other people. A person may inhabit various social roles through intentional or unintentional expression of behaviors and appearances that convey meanings maintaining these roles during social interactions. Therefore, the persona one presents to other people varies according to the social environment the person is engaged in, in particular the persona presented before others will differ from the persona an individual will present when he/she happens to be alone.In design
As used in the design field, the Persona is an artifact that consists of a narrative relating to a desired user or customer's daily behavior patterns, using specific details, not generalities. A very popular artifact is the 'persona poster' that is usually presented in an 18 inch format with photo and text. For more details see Persona (marketing).In literature
In literature the term has become associated with the work of two modern poets, Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. They understood the term slightly differently and derived its use and meaning from different traditions. Eliot had taken over and developed Laforgue's ironic "I", whereas Pound worked from Robert Browning's dramatic monologues. Eliot's personae were Prufrock and Sweeney, Pound's were Cino, Bertran de Born, Propertius, and Mauberley. Whereas Eliot used 'masks' to distance himself from aspects of modern life which he found degrading and repulsive, Pound's personae were poets and could be considered in good part alter-egos who are to be dissociated from 'characters' like Malatesta, John Adams, Confucius, or Thomas Jefferson that we find in Pound's later poetry, The Cantos. For Pound, the personae were a way of working through a specific poetic problem. In this sense, the persona is a transparent mask, wearing the traits of two poets and responding to two situations, old and new, which are similar and overlapping. In Homage to Sextus Propertius, for example, Pound 'translated' parts of Propertius's elegies and by means of various modernisations of diction, drew attention to parallelisms existing between Propertius's situation and Pound's own, especially the pressures of living in an empire at war and Pound's need to cease writing shorter lyrical poems and start on longer epic structures. Pound at that time (1917) had written his first three Cantos but was doubtful of their value. In writing the Homage he worked through his anxieties of whether the epic was compatible with modernity or worth writing at all, given the political and social statement of the genre. Pound at that time had no political education, which he would start to acquire only after the end of WWI with C.H. Douglas and A.R. Orage in the offices of The New Age.Assuming personas was a Greek and Roman tradition that was abandoned during the Medieval period. Instead of wearing masks the actors assumed their characters' personality. As part of a teaching strategy, teachers in Iowa state in the US have adopted this method to teach their students Shakespeare. The students were asked to become the character to reduce their alienation from the text and to assist them to reflect on the character's beliefs, values and motivations. This experiment achieved a few goals: 1) the student was able to connect to the concepts and context. 2) They are able to construct meaning. 3) Allows students to choose whether to like or dislike Shakespearean text.
In music
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
, though they may also be composers.
For that reason, many performers make use of a Persona. Some artists create various characters, specially if their career is long and go through many changes over time. That is the case, for example, of David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, initially largely recognizable as the alien Ziggy Stardust and later as The Thin White Duke
The Thin White Duke
The Thin White Duke was David Bowie's 1976 persona and character, primarily identified with his album Station to Station and mentioned by name in the title track, although the 'Duke' persona had been adopted during the Young Americans tour and promotion...
. More than just artistic pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s, they are independent characters used in the artist's shows and albums (in the case, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a 1972 concept album by English musician David Bowie, which is loosely based on a story of a rock star named Ziggy Stardust. It peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 75 in the United States on the Billboard Music...
and Station to Station
Station to Station
Station to Station is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1976. Commonly regarded as one of his most significant works, Station to Station is also notable as the vehicle for Bowie's last great 'character', The Thin White Duke...
). However, in music, a Persona does not always mean a change. Some authors, for instance, has noted that Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's charisma is accredited largely to his almost stereotyped image, always with a harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and with his distinctive hair, voice and clothing. The persona also serves to claim a right or to draw attention to a certain subject. That is the case of Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
and his interest on death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
and morbidity, and Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
and her interest on sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
.
The concept of Persona in music was introduced by Edward T. Cone
Edward T. Cone
Edward Toner Cone was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, and philanthropist.Cone studied composition under Roger Sessions at Princeton University, receiving his bachelor's in 1939...
in his The Composer's Voice (1974), that dealt with the relation between the lyrical self of a song's lyric
Lyric
Lyric may refer to:* Lyric poetry is a form of poetry that expresses a subjective, personal point of view* Lyric, from the Greek language, a song sung with a lyre* Lyrics, the composition in verse which is sung to a melody to constitute a song...
s and its composer. Nowadays the concept of Persona can be used to refer also to an instrumentalist, like a pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and his playing style, although the term is more commonly used to refer to the voice and performance nuances of a vocalist in a studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
or in a live concert, such as in the cases of Maria Bethânia
Maria Bethânia
Maria Bethânia Vianna Telles Veloso , better known as Maria Bethânia , is a singer and sister of Caetano Veloso. She started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião"...
, Elis Regina
Elis Regina
Elis Regina Carvalho Costa, known simply as Elis Regina was an important singer of Brazilian popular music. She became nationally renowned in 1965, after singing Arrastão in the first edition of TV Excelsior festival song contest, and soon joined O Fino da Bossa, a television program on TV Record...
, Edith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
, Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
and also Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, who takes the guise of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
in the song "Sympathy for the Devil
Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger credited to Jagger/Richards...
" and of a housewife in "Slave
Slave (song)
"Slave" is a song by The Rolling Stones on their 1981 album Tattoo You.Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Slave" was originally written and recorded for 1975's Black and Blue. Initial recordings took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio...
", etc. It's also remarkable in the case of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, which presents a group persona, specially the character Billy Shears "played by" drummer Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
.
In psychology
The persona is also the mask or appearance one presents to the world. It may appear in dreamDream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s under various guises (see Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
and his psychology, and Persona (psychology)
Persona (psychology)
The Persona, for Jung, was the social face the individual presented to the world - 'a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual'....
).
In marketing
Some marketing experts recommend that one creates a persona that represents a group of customers so that the company can focus its efforts.Advertising businesses base some of their business models on internet personas. They monitor pictures, browsing history and the ads people surfing the internet generally select or choose to click and based on that data they tailor their merchandise and targeted audience. Free social network sites rely on advertising companies to maintain their internet presence. They collaborate to develop terms of agreement over sharing data such that both parties benefit from the information. Therefore internet personas run the risk of becoming a target for fraudulent actions.