Persona

In Latin, persona originally meant "mask".

A persona (plural personae or personas), 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.^[1] 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 or court of law, when it became apparent that different individuals could assume the same role, and legal attributes such as rights, powers, and duties followed the role. The same individuals as actors could play different roles, each with its own legal attributes, sometimes even in the same court appearance. According to other sources, which also admit that the origin of the term is not completely clear, persona could possibly be related to the Latin verb per-sonare, literally: sounding through, with an obvious link to the above-mentioned theatrical mask.

In literature

In literature the term has become associated with the work of two modern poets, Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, and the writer Luigi Pirandello. 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 modernizations 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 desire 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 personae was a Greek and Roman tradition abandoned during the Medieval period. Instead of wearing masks the actors assumed their characters' personality. As part of a teaching strategy, teachers in the US state of Iowa 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 students are 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.^[2]

In music

David Bowie as The Thin White Duke at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto 1976

Usually the performers assume a role that matches the music they sing on stage, though they may also be composers. Many performers make use of a persona. Some artists create various characters, especially if their career is long and they go through many changes over time. For example, David Bowie initially adopted a role as an alien Ziggy Stardust, and later as The Thin White Duke.^[3] More than just artistic pseudonyms, the personae are independent characters used in the artist's shows and albums (in this example, 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 have noted that Bob Dylan's charisma is due largely to his almost stereotyped image, always with a harmonica, guitar, and with his distinctive hair, nasal voice, and clothing.^[4] 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 in death and morbidity, and Madonna and her interest in sexuality.^[5]

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 lyrics and its composer.^[6] The concept of persona can be used to refer also to an instrumentalist, like a pianist and his playing style,^[7] 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. Examples include 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" or of a housewife in "Slave". Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, presents a group persona,^[8] including the character Billy Shears "played by" drummer Ringo Starr.^[9]

	"Roman Holiday" Nicki Minaj switches between her fast-paced Roman Zolanski persona to his mother, Martha, during this 30 second sample of "Roman Holiday".
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Artists such as Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé popularized the use of personae in the performance of pop music.^[10] Jo Calderone, the persona of Lady Gaga, performed at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. Jo represents a drag male persona, and is often used in the performance of her song, "You and I".^[11] Nicki Minaj, a bubblegum rapper, employs multiple personae, ranging from what she calls the Harajuku Barbie persona to Roman Zolanski, a Polish homosexual. The personae were heavily used in her sophomoric album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.^[12][13] The persona of Beyoncé Knowles, "Sasha Fierce", appears on the album I Am... Sasha Fierce. According to Beyoncé, Sasha is her wilder side, emerging during high octane stage performances and serving as a sort of scapegoat for "unladylike" behavior.^[10][14]

In psychology

The persona is also the mask or appearance one presents to the world.^[15] It may appear in dreams under various guises (see Carl Jung and his psychology, and Persona (psychology)).

In marketing

Some marketing experts recommend creating a marketing persona that represents a group of customers^[16] 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 to a 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.^[17]

In user experience design

Personas are also used in User experience design, known as user persona, and in Design for All. Alan Cooper introduced personas in his book The Inmates Are Running the Asylum (1998). Cooper play-acted fictitious characters in order to help solve design questions.^[18] These personas need to be based on research and can also be described in narrative form.^[19] Andrew Hinton has observed that creating personas has become synonymous with creating documents instead of an "activity of empathetic role-play".^[20]

Practitioners of Design for All and user-centred design have created personas with disabilities, for example, as part of the book Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design,^[21] those by the European R&D project AEGIS (available under Creative Commons),^[22] and those by the European R&D project ACCESSIBLE (available as OWL).^[23]

See also

• Alter ego
• Character mask
• Doppelgänger
• Stage name
• Pseudonym
• Nom de plume

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