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Emmanuelle Riker
A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public,[1] the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character.[2] It is also considered "an intermediary between the individual and the institution."[3]
According to Carl Jung and the Jungian psychology, the persona is also the mask or appearance one presents to the world.[14] It may appear in dreams under various guises. People may choose to wear a social mask or use a persona to make themselves appear more socially desirable. This is used to impress potential partners or to make new friends.[15] People can have multiple personas that they use in various situations; this can include work, being with friends, at home, etc. Depending on the individual's circumstance, a persona which they consider stronger within their specific social situation can be created because they put a higher emphasis on social interactions. Jung warned about using personas too much, fearing that one might lose their own individuality to their persona. A study has shown that this can be true to an extent; when taking a private self-rating test, there is a high correlation between how a person rates themselves and how they present themselves in public. It is difficult to tell if people are accurately filling out the test or answering what they find desirable.[15]
In a study written by Danielle Jackson, she argues that a person's persona can range in healthiness. The more healthy a persona is, the more socially acceptable and consistent that person remains. However, once a person starts to believe they are their persona, it can have adverse effects on their personality.[16] James Hillman believed that once a person loses their identity to a persona, they become an archetypal figure. By losing their "ego", their persona becomes their personality in an archetypal form. However, when this occurs, the person becomes unstable and they are unable to act outside their formed persona.[16]
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.[17] Performance studies scholar Philip Auslander includes further contextual frames, in which musical persona is the primary product of musical performances apart from the original text.[18] Auslander argues that music is a primary social frame as a "principle of organization which govern events."[19] In addition, he categorizes three types of personae transformation: lateral moves within the same frame at a given moment; movements from one frame to another; and within a single frame that changes over time and hypothesizes that personae transformation could only happen when the genre framing changes. As a strategic formation of public identity in communities, musical personae describe how music moves through cultures.[20] Persona maintains stability of performance with the expectation from the audience matching in musical presentation.[21]
The concept of persona can also be used to refer to an instrumentalist, like a pianist and their playing style,[22] 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. In online spaces where personae are more visible, musical personae can be created through the flexible and fluid virtual bodies of avatars.[23]
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 alien messenger Ziggy Stardust, and later as The Thin White Duke.[24] 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.[25] 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.[26]
Personas are used in marketing and advertising by creating a marketing persona that represents a group or segment of customers[36] so that the company can focus its efforts. For example, online advertising agencies can 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 or better describe a customer segments using a data driven approach.[37]
Personas are also used in user experience design, known as user personas. 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.[38] These personas need to be based on user research and can also be described in narrative form.[39] Creating personas has become synonymous with creating a document, known as persona profile, instead of an "activity of empathetic role-play".[40]
Persona began as a spin-off based on the positively-received high school setting of Shin Megami Tensei If... (1994). Persona's core features include a group of students as the main cast, a silent protagonist similar to the mainline Megami Tensei franchise, and combat using Personas. Since the release of Persona 3 in 2006, the main series has used a social simulation function called Social Links, which are directly linked to how Personas evolve. Character designs are by series co-creator Kazuma Kaneko (Persona and the Persona 2 duology) and Shigenori Soejima (Persona 3 onwards). Its overall theme is exploration of the human psyche and how the characters find their true selves. The series' recurring concepts and design elements draw on Jungian psychology, psychological personas and tarot cards, along with religion, mythology, and literature themes and influences.
The main character of each Persona game is a silent protagonist representing the player, with a manner described by the series' director as "silent and cool".[108] When the writer for new story content in Eternal Punishment's PSP version wished for the main character to have spoken dialogue, this was vetoed as it went against the series tradition.[109] Two recurring characters generated by the collective unconscious are Philemon and Nyarlathotep, the respective representatives of the positive and negative traits of humanity.[7] In Innocent Sin, the two reveal that they are engaged in a proxy contest as to whether humanity can embrace its contradictory feelings and find a higher purpose before destroying itself.[98] Philemon makes appearances in later Persona games as a blue butterfly.[85][91] Many of the major antagonists in the series are personifications of death generated by the human subconscious.[91] The central theme of the Persona series is exploration of the human psyche and the main characters discovering their true selves.[110] The stories generally focus on the main cast's interpersonal relationships and psychologies.[111] There is also an underlying focus on "the human soul".[112]
Many of the concepts and characters within the series (Personas, Shadows, Philemon) use Jungian psychology and archetypes.[106] A recurring motif are the "masks" people wear during everyday life, which ties back to their Personas. This motif was more overtly expressed in Persona 5 through the main casts' use of masks in their thief guises.[108][113] The dual lives of the main casts are directly inspired by these themes.[104] Each game also includes specific themes and motifs. Persona 2 focuses on the effect of rumors on the fabric of reality (referred to by the developers as "the power of Kotodama"); Persona 3 employs themes involving depression and the darkness within people; Persona 4 focuses on how gossip and the media influences people's views of others; and Persona 5 shows how the main characters pursue personal freedom in a restrictive modern society.[85][96][114] A recurring element in the earlier entries is "The Butterfly Dream", a famous story by the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou. It ties in with the series' themes, and also with Philemon's frequent appearances as a butterfly.[7] Philemon's original appearance was based on Zhuang Zhou.[106] The character Nyarlathotep is based on the character of the same name from H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and the Mythos as a whole is frequently referenced in Persona 2.[85][115] The Velvet Room was based on the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks, while Igor and his assistants are all named after characters from Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and its adaptations.[106][91]
The Persona series was first conceived after the release of Shin Megami Tensei If... for the Super Famicom. As the high school setting of If... had been positively received, Atlus decided to create a dedicated subseries focusing on the inner struggles of young adults.[112][116] The focus on high school life was also decided upon due to the experiences of the series' creators, Kouji Okada and Kazuma Kaneko: according to them, as nearly everyone experiences being a student at some point in their lives, it was something everyone could relate to, representing a time of both learning and personal freedom. In their view, this approach helped players accept the series' themes and the variety of ideas included in each title. Kaneko in particular tried to recreate his experiences and the impact it had on him during his time with the series.[117] The main concept behind the first game was a Megami Tensei title that was more approachable for new and casual players than the main series. The abundance of casual games on the PlayStation reinforced this decision.[106][118] The game's title, Megami Ibunroku,[Jp. 12] represented the game's status as a direct spin-off from the series.[119] It was later dropped to further define Persona as a standalone series.[115] After the success of Persona, Innocent Sin began development, retaining many of the original staff. During the writing of Innocent Sin, it was decided that the world of Persona 2 needed a different perspective than that of the current protagonist. This decision laid the groundwork for Eternal Punishment.[115][120] Following this, the Persona series entered a hiatus while focus turned to other projects, including Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.[121]
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