Madonna studies
Academic study of Madonna's work and life.
chrisweger · via Wikipedia: Madonna studies · CC BY-SA 2.0
Madonna studies—also referred to as Madonna scholarship, Madonna-ology, the Madonna phenomenon, or Madonnathinking—is the academic examination of the life and work of the American singer-songwriter Madonna. The field emerged in the mid-1980s, using an interdisciplinary, postmodern blend of cultural and media studies, and peaked in the 1990s, though scholarly attention has persisted. Researchers in this area are sometimes called Madonna scholars or Madonnologists; early figures include E. Ann Kaplan and John Fiske. The field has focused on topics such as gender, feminism, race, multiculturalism, sexuality, and mass media, drawing on Madonna’s songs, videos, live shows, films, books, and interviews. This scholarship helped spur broader academic study of pop music and popular entertainment, shaping American cultural studies, though it has drawn controversy from institutions like the National Geographic Society. Feminist writer Camille Paglia, an early scholar in the field, criticized Madonna studies and popular culture studies more generally for what she saw as their negative impact on students and a corrupt academic career system. The phrase “Madonna studies” appeared in the late 1980s, according to writer Maura Johnston. Some academics, like David Gauntlett, used this term; others, including Janice Radway, Suzanna Danuta Walters, and Maureen Orth, preferred “Madonna-ology” (or “Madonnaology”). E. Ann Kaplan called it “the Madonna Phenomenon,” while critics such as Robert Christgau used “Madonnathinking” (or “Madonnathink”). The volume of academic work on Madonna also led journalists and scholars like Simon Frith, Michael Bérubé, and Jon Pareles to dismissively label it the “Madonna industry,” “Madonna business,” or “Madonna boom.” Chilean literary critic Óscar Contardo situates Madonna studies within British cultural studies, which began analyzing celebrity phenomena in the 1970s. American historian Richard Wolin notes that cultural studies expanded in the 1980s, influenced by Michel Foucault, Stuart Hall, and the Birmingham School, leading popular culture to be seen as a site of “resistance to power.” In this context, Wolin argues, Madonna studies grew into an academic cottage industry.
- Field
- Cultural studies, media studies
- Known for
- Interdisciplinary analysis of Madonna's work and life
- Peak period
- 1990s
- Early scholars
- E. Ann Kaplan, John Fiske
- Alternative names
- Madonna scholarship, Madonna-ology, Madonna phenomenon, Madonnathinking
Lore & Background
The field originated in the context of British cultural studies and the expansion of cultural studies in the 1980s, influenced by Michel Foucault, Stuart Hall, and the Birmingham School. According to American historian Richard Wolin, popular culture came to be viewed as a site of 'resistance to power,' and Madonna studies developed into an academic cottage industry. Mary Cross noted that the turmoil of new theory from Europe and the culture wars brought changes to American academia, with departments devoted to popular culture, women's studies, and media studies emerging, and Madonna seemed to illustrate postmodern theory well.
Scholars such as E. Ann Kaplan and John Fiske presented Madonna as an example of how popular culture can imitate critical theories of history, knowledge, and human identity. The field spread through courses, classroom discussions, academic journals, textbooks, and conferences. Princeton, Harvard, UCLA, the University of Colorado, and Rutgers were among the first to offer courses about her. Outside the U.S., the University of Amsterdam created an elective discipline called 'Madonna: The Music and the Phenomenon,' and in Finland, Madonna became part of academic life by 1995.
Reader's Guide
Madonna studies is significant for stimulating increased academic examination of pop music and its performers, and more broadly of popular entertainment, shaping American cultural studies. The field treated topics such as gender, feminism, race, multiculturalism, sexuality, and the mass media, using Madonna's songs, videos, live performances, films, books, and interviews as texts. It has been deemed controversial by public authorities such as the National Geographic Society. Early scholar Camille Paglia criticized the field for its perceived 'ill effect on students and an increasingly corrupt career system' in academia. The field also generated terms like 'Madonna industry,' 'Madonna business,' and 'Madonna boom' used disdainfully by some journalists and scholars. Its legacy includes the establishment of a mini-discipline that explored identity politics, consumer culture, reception studies, globalization, and performance.
Did You Know?
- Some critics, including Robert Christgau, called the field 'Madonnathinking' or 'Madonnathink.'
- The University of Amsterdam created an elective academic discipline titled 'Madonna: The Music and the Phenomenon.'
- In 2015, scholars at the University of Oviedo offered a Madonna course, the first time the university devoted a course to a female singer.
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