Quest Journals Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science Volume 7 ~ Issue 9 (2019)pp.:46-59 ISSN(Online):2321-9467 www.questjournals.org Corresponding Author: Sumitra Dahiya 'Seim' 46 | Page Research Paper „The Cultural Transformation of the Biblical Imagery, Myths and Traditions: An Analysis of the Adaptation or It is The Cultural Appropriation in Lady Gaga's Song “Judas”‟ Sumitra Dahiya 'Seim' ABSTRACT: Lady Gaga a well known figure as 'mother monster’ and 'Queen of pop' and also one of the most celebrated artists of all time has been controversial for her music videos and fashion sense, especially her vision regarding religion, sex and gender empowering experiments with modern culture is unique. In this paper I have discussed her most controversial and approachable music video ''Judas'', from the album, Born this Way, a watermark of her music career that landed her atop of the most experimental music diva of all time. She uses the imagery of Judas' betrayal as a backdrop which throws up some interesting themes. Keywords: Sacred, redemption, holy, evil, testament, orthodox, betrayal and love. Received 25 Oct. 2019; Accepted 06 Nov.., 2019 © the Author(S) 2019. Published With Open Access At www.Questjournals.Org I. INTRODUCTION: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (March 28, 1986), one of the most admired American singers of all time is reputable among people as Lady Gaga. She has been one of the most influential icons in the pop music industry, not only with her incredible fashion sense but for her socio-political influence on modern culture. She has been plausible for her unconventional, provocative creativity and visual experiments with her music videos. She became laudable singer and songwriter the following years with the release of her albums, The Fame and The Fame Monster in 2009 and peaked atop with full length albums, Born This Way (2011), Artpop (2013) and Joanne (2016). She has played leading role in the mini-series, American Horror Story: Hotel (2015-16) for which she has won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and for the critically appreciated musical drama movie A Star is Born (2018) she has nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. After sold 27 million albums and 146 million singles as of 2016, Gaga is one of the best selling music artists in the musical history. She has been declared Billboard's Artist of the year. She has ranked number four on VH1 Greatest Women in Music in 2012, and second on Time's 2011 readers pole of the most influential people of the past ten years and has named Billboard's women of the year in 2015. (Wiki, 2019) Lady Gaga has the entire spark for lighting up the firecrackers in the sky of art and music with her two main demonstrated abilities: Firstly, her videos reflect the power of woman to shape the modern culture about religion. It will be not wrong to say that Gaga is a producer of new culture. She uses her creativity as a power to create meaning transforming the religious myths. Secondly, her videos demonstrate how modern values still dominant cultural meanings. Every time period has changed the meanings of culture. Now modern age is doing the same. Gaga is the modern artist and she plays modern cultural perspectives honestly. ''Judas'' itself represents a commentary on the moral confusion and contradiction on religious values in contemporary society where Christian values still holds dominance. Analysing Lady Gaga‟s songs literary appropriation and adaptation it is also important to consider her music and Catholic adaptation abilities. Although Gaga is not a traditional academic research subject, but several academic researchers from different areas have written about her, however the present literature review will mainly focus on her influences and inspirations how her songs have driven Gaga to write and visualise them. One of Gaga‟s trademarks is that she writes and performs songs that allow her to put her into fictional but close to social situations and, in this way, she plays the character of someone else and narrates from her empathetic perspective. Some of her songs have been inspired by her personal life and some by Christian myths. Her songs can be seen as adaptations of Biblical parables: the original sources are studied by Gaga as the Catholic student. By using adaptation theory, this study will give an interpretation of Lady Gaga‟s songs with myths and traditions.