DECONSTRUCTING THE PERFECT CELEBRITY
from The Fame to Mayhem
Keywords:
Lady Gaga; pop culture; celebrity; identity; performance.Abstract
This article offers a critical analysis of the construction and deconstruction of Lady Gaga’s public image through her studio albums, from The Fame (2008) to Mayhem (2025), with particular emphasis on the track “Perfect Celebrity.” Treating each album as a symbolic and narrative unit, the study investigates how the artist combines aesthetic, discursive, and performative elements to challenge and reshape contemporary notions of fame and authenticity in pop culture. The research follows a qualitative and exploratory approach based on content analysis and supported by theoretical frameworks from cultural studies, performance theory, and critical theory. The findings demonstrate how Gaga uses her artistic persona to subvert gender norms, identity frameworks, and spectacle logic, transforming pop into a space for symbolic resistance.
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