Madonna's life and work have been the subject of various academics works, including scholarly articles and other published works, mostly covered by literary and academic journals as well as by other educational publishers like those from university presses. The list is limited to only those that appeared first by a peer-reviewed outlet, or published in compendiums. Some works have been published in languages besides English.
The first scholarly article about her is believed to have been written in 1985. Scholar Suzanna Danuta Walters commented that there has been "at least one major academic text devoted to Madonna", while professor Jane Desmond has commented, "the relevant bibliography is vast". Australian historian Robert Aldrich once commented she is a "performer of inimitable ubiquity" in the academia as she "has saturated the pages of academic journals". To Alina Simone, in her academic studies "there is no dearth of material about Madonna, but an overwhelming excess". Associate professor José F. Blanco, wrote in The Journal of Popular Culture that "it can be argued that Madonna is overexposed in academic research".
Theses such as Like a thesis: postmodern readings of Madonna music videos (1991) by Madonna scholar Charles W Wells are included because they received academic and press coverage. In 1998, French academic Georges-Claude Guilbert wrote his thesis Madonna: un mythe postmoderne. Other publications received citations from various scholars and observers appearing in citation indexes, or were preserved by university libraries. In addition, some theses have been published as books. Music professor Antoni Pizà noted that during the late 20th century, it became a fad in the United States to write doctoral dissertations on Madonna. American journalist Hank Stuever said that dissertations about Madonna piled up, and some were collected into a tome called The Madonna Connection (1993). She has been a subject of multiple lectures around the world.
Academic and critical journal articles In English Title Year Author(s) Journal Pages Identifiers Notes Madonna1987Performing Arts Journal 17–20 Vol. 10issue 3An essay about Madonna.Living to Tell: Madonna’s Resurrection of the Fleshly1990Genders 148–166 issue 7A study on Madonna and her music.The Effects of Race, Gender, and Fandom on Audience Interpretations of Madonna's Music Videos1990Journal of Communication 88–102 Vol. 40issue 2An audience reception using Madonna's videos "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart".Like a critique: A postmodern essay on Madonna's postmodern video like a prayer1991Popular Music and Society 59–68 Vol. 15issue 1A study on video of "Like a Prayer".Madonna1991/92Ploughshares 221–230 Vol. 17issue 4Literary studies on Madonna.The Laugh of Madonna: Censorship and Oppositional Discourse1992The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 41–46 Vol. 25issue 1A study on Madonna and her music.Our Lady of MTV: Madonna's "Like a Prayer"1992Boundary 2 163–183 Vol. 19issue 2Commentaries about Madonna and her video "Like a Prayer" as well, the Madonna scholars.Madonna's postmodern feminism: Bringing the margins to the center1992Southern Communication Journal 120–131 Vol. 57issue 2Essay about how Madonna used postmodernism to challenge accepted norms of sex and gender.Justify My Ideology: Madonna and traditional values1992Popular Music and Society 75–84 Vol. 16issue 2A criticism and analysis of the music video for Madonna's song, "Justify My Love" (1990).Like a virgin-mother?: materialism and maternalism in the songs of Madonna1992Cultural Studies73–96 Vol. 6issue 1A criticism and analysis of the music video for Madonna's song, "Material Girl" (1984).Sex, Madonna, & Mia: Press Reflections1993The Antioch Review503–518 Vol. 51issue 4Talks about press reaction towards Madonna's book Sex.Madonna's Sex: Constitutional Stewardship or Administrative Fantasies?1993Administrative Theory & Praxis37–51 Vol. 15issue 2Examines reaction towards Madonna's book Sex.Madonna1993The Journal of Popular Culture1–12 Vol. 27issue 1A criticism and analysis of Madonna as a public figure.Feminist assessment of emancipatory potential and Madonna's contradictory gender practices1996Quarterly Journal of Speech125–141 Vol. 82issue 2A feminist‐schizoanally piece noted that the hallmark of Madonna's career was her contradictory play with gender roles and images.Electrifying Fragments: Madonna and Postmodern Performance1996New Theatre Quarterly99–107 Vol. 12issue 46Studied Madonna's image in terms of the concept of "punctum" a concept defined by Roland Barthes.Like a Prophet - On Christian Interpretations of a Madonna Video1996Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis151–174 Vol. 16An analysis on "Like a Prayer" since Christian and art perspectives.Madonna — mother of mirrors1997Cultural Studies138–187 Vol. 11issue 1The Aesthetics of Music Video: An Analysis of Madonna's 'Cherish1998Popular Music153–185 Vol. 17issue 2Focused in her video "Cherish".Not an Immaculate Reception: ideology, The Madonna Connection, and academic wannabes1999Velvet Light Trap37 Vol. 22issue 5Examines the criticism towards Madonna scholars by her own experience.Madonna and Hypertext: Liberatory Learning in Art Education2000Studies in Art Education376–389 Vol. 41issue 4Examines the use of computer hypertext as a base for art education in high school and used Madonna's videos as example.The Madonna Experience: A U.S. Icon Awakens a Puerto Rican Adolescent's Feminist Consciousness2001Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies118–130 Vol. 22issue 2Talks about Madonna's Puerto Rican performance from her Girlie Show in 1993, and the impact she had in the country.Trollope's Material Girl2002The Yearbook of English Studies36–51 Vol. 32Essay takes the 'Madonna phenomenon' as its point of departure to propose that, far from being unique to postmodernity, the representational project that emerges from Madonna's "Material Girl" song already motivated cultural production in the nineteenth century.Material Girl or Managerial Girl? Charting Madonna's brand ambition2003Business Horizons2–10 Vol. 46issue 4Talks about Madonna's brand in the perspective of business and marketing.All You Need Is LAV: Madonna and Postmodern Kabbalah2005The Jewish Quarterly Review611–624 Vol. 95issue 4Madonna's study of Kabbalah and integrating Kabbalistic themes in her cultural productions."Sigmund Freud, Analyze This": How Madonna Situates "Die Another Day" Beyond the Pleasure Principle2006Studies in Popular Culture77–97 Vol. 29issue 1The Semiotics of Performance and Success in Madonna2012The Journal of Popular Culture173–196 Vol. 45issue 1Talks about Madonna's long -standing success.Madonna as a symbol of reflexive modernisation2013Celebrity Studies144–154 Vol. 4issue 2Discuss the communication of social and cultural tensions embodied in Madonna.From Old Media Whore to New Media Troll: The online negotiation of Madonna's ageing body2013Feminist Media Studies288–302 Vol. 13issue 2Commentaries about Madonna's age and body since a feminist perspective.How to Fashion an Archetype: Madonna as Anima Figure2014The Journal of Popular Culture1153–1166 Vol. 47issue 6Talks about Madonna's image, such as her reinvention, identities and her cultural impact.The Icon and the Text: American Book History and the Construction of the World's Largest-Grossing Illustrated Book, Madonna's Sex (1992)2020Journal of American Studies184–211 Examines Madonna's success of her first book Sex.
Non-English Title Year Author(s) Journal Language Pages Identifiers Notes Watching Madonna: Anmerkungen zu einer feministischen Medien-/Geschlechterforschung1996Essen: Die blaue Eule23–44An essay on Madonna and her cultural impact.L'autobiographie post-moderne, "post-mortem": Madonna auto(bio)graphe2002L'Esprit Créateur66–75 Vol. 42issue 4Socio-cultural study on Madonna.Die Another Day: Madonna and the Post-Modern Kabbalah ()2002 ()Zmanim: A Historical Quarterly ()4–11 issue 91A study of Madonna's song "Die Another Day".Madonna'nın Feminizmi: Postmodern Bir Kimlik Sorunsalı ()2008Toplum ve Demokrasi Dergisi91–106 Vol. 4issue 2The study analysis through Madonna, as an important representation of postmodern identity the feminism, postmodernism and identity.Construção de persona midiática: um estudo de caso da pop star Madonna2011Revista científica da faminas1–38 Vol. 7issue 1A post-structuralism analysis on Madonna's work.«Um rosto tão conhecido quanto o nosso próprio»: a construção da imagem pública e da idolatria a Madonna2011Comunicação & cultura99–115 issue 12As part of the "Fãs e celebridades" commentaries.Mujeres, violencia y posfeminismo en los vídeos de Madonna2014Área Abierta23–41 Vol. 14issue 3A study based on Madonna's videos analyzing post-feminism theory.Nem todas querem ser Madonna: representações sociais da mulher carioca, de 50 anos ou mais2014Estudos Feministas173–193 Vol. 22issue 1It focuses on Madonna and her age and modern media's reflection of what it means to be over 50 for a woman.Madonna, 'sex' e o fetichismo pós-moderno2019Sociologia: Revista da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto71–87 Vol. 38A postdoctoral research.Los vídeos musicales de Madonna como performances audiovisuales2022Cuadernos De Investigación Musical151–162 issue 15Studies of Madonna's performances.
Partial and secondary