Medusa gender identity in audiovisual communication

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-415

Keywords:

Audiovisual communication, Films, Television, Television series, Iconography, Mythology, Gender identity, Medusa, Gorgons

Abstract

Introduction: The survival of classical mythology in current audiovisual products is analyzed through the analysis of the various representations of the myth of Medusa in audiovisual media, specifically in films and series. With the aim of determining whether in this myth there has been a modification of its iconography and gender identity. Methodology: Different methodologies of iconographic, iconological and semiotic analysis have been applied that have allowed us to establish the identity signs of the Gorgon Medusa, to subsequently, based on a quantitative analysis, analyze whether there is a change in gender and social perception of it, in relation to this feminine myth. Results: The archetype of the Gorgon Medusa undergoes an iconographic, iconological and semiotic modification; However, society continues to identify Medusa as a female character. Discussions: The reason for this iconographic and semiotic change along with a change in gender identity is questioned. Conclusions: It can be stated that there is a modification and a change in the social and visual perception of the feminine myth.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

M. Mar Martínez-Oña, Universidad de Diseño y Tecnología

PhD in Women and Gender Studies. Currently, she is a professor at UDIT and IP of the UDIT Research Group on Design, Visual Culture and Gender “GENIUS”. She holds a degree in Art History from the University of Granada, a Master's degree in Communication and Art from the Complutense University of Madrid, and a Master's degree in "Digital Animation" from the University of Salamanca. In her research, she highlights different lines of research such as the representation of women through archetypes and their representation in current visual culture, female artists, feminine beauty, etc.

Ana M. Muñoz-Muñoz, University of Granada

Professor at the Department of Information and Communication at the University of Granada. Member of the EC3 research group and the University Institute for Research on Women and Gender Studies at the same university. Her research focuses on documentation from a gender perspective: Women and science: scientific production from a gender perspective; The body and its meanings: the image of women in the press, photography and advertising; Sources of information for women and gender studies. More information at https://www.ugr.es/~anamaria/

References

Aghion, I., Barbillon, C. y Lissarrague, F. (1997). Héroes y dioses de la Antigüedad. Alianza Editorial.

Alganza Roldán, M. (2010). L’eroe, la madre e l’arca. I quaderni del Ramo d’Oro on-line, 3, 37-46. http://www.qro.unisi.it/frontend/node/70

Alganza Roldán, M. (2013). Genios alados, monstruos y mujeres fatales en la mitología griega. En M. Carretero González, D. Díaz Piedra, M. Reyes Martín y S. Rodríguez Fernández (coords.), Vampiros a contraluz. Constantes y modelizaciones del vampiro en el arte y la cultura (pp. 1-18). Comares.

Borelli, M. (21-23 de junio de 2023). ¿Qué tiene que ver medusa con el movimiento #metoo? Un estudio sobre las últimas interpretaciones del mito de la Gorgona. En Noveno Coloquio Internacional CEH Pensar la Antigüedad en clave contemporánea: enfoques interdisciplinarios y nuevos paradigmas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina. https://acortar.link/5DYuPB

Bracken, A. (2021). Lore. Puck

Cañamero Gómez, A. (2023). Medusa, acercamiento a su figura. ArqueoTimes, 6, 32-34. https://arqueotimes.es/medusa-acercamiento-a-su-figura/

Cole, O. A. (2023). Dear Medusa. Hardcover.

Crespo, M. I. (2019). ΠΟΛΥΣΙΝ ΗΣ ΚΥΩΝ: Electra, Coéforas y la construcción del estatus femenino en la Orestía. Revista de Estudios Clásicos, 46, 13-39. https://revistas.uncu.edu.ar/ojs3/index.php/revistaestudiosclasicos/article/view/2200

Donadío Maggi de Gandolfi, M. C. (2010). Lo feo y lo malo. Síntesis. Revista de Filosofía, 4(1), 129-143. https://sintesis.uai.cl/index.php/intusfilosofia/article/viewFile/100/92 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15691/0718-5448Vol4Iss1a100

Ferri Gandía, M. (2013). Alma en suplicio. La Medusa animada de Ray Harryhausen. Con A de animación, 3, 122-142. https://doi.org/10.4995/caa.2013.1429 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4995/caa.2013.1429

Gambon, L. (2023). Luis Unceta Gómez y Helena González Vaquerizo (eds.). En los márgenes del mito. Hibridaciones de la mitología clásica en la cultura de masas contemporánea. Circe de clásicos y modernos, 27(2), 167-170. https://cerac.unlpam.edu.ar/index.php/circe/article/view/7970/8846 DOI: https://doi.org/10.19137/circe-2023-270209

Gómez Cardó, G. (2020). Una mirada terrible: usos textuals i iconogràfics de Medusa en època imperial. Anuari de Filologia. Antiqua et Mediaeualia, 10(2), 27-41. https://doi.org/10.1344/AFAM2020.10.2.4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1344/AFAM2020.10.2.4

Macías, C. (2021). Seres híbridos del mito clásico y videojuego. Ágora: Estudos Clássicos em Debate, 23, 331-352. https://doi.org/10.34624/agora.v0i23.24454

Mora, M. (2011). La reconstrucción del mito de Perseo en “Furia de titanes” (2010). Revista Digilenguas, 10, 122-129. https://www.lenguas.unc.edu.ar/uploads/DigilenguasN10.pdf

Downloads

Published

2024-11-28

How to Cite

Martínez-Oña, M. M., & Muñoz-Muñoz, A. M. (2024). Medusa gender identity in audiovisual communication. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 10, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-415

Issue

Vol. 10 (2025)

Section

Cover articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 M. Mar Martínez-Oña, Ana M. Muñoz-Muñoz

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Non Commercial, No Derivatives Attribution 4.0. International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.), that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).