Introduction

The most iconic character Japan ever produced is, without a doubt, Godzilla. This enormous monster, awakened and strengthened by nuclear radiation, remains, up and until this date, extremely lucrative. Even with the success of Honda’s Godzilla, Toho could not have predicted this monster would turn into media-mix phenomenon.

The continued popularity of this destructive pre-historic beast, of course, caused many critics and scholars to explore what Godzilla represents. In other words, they approached Godzilla as a signifier, as a metaphor. Yet, sixty-eight years after his birth, the final word has not yet been said about this Kaiju. The phenomenon has nevertheless invited interpretative excesses and readings that do not remain entirely faithful to the narrative context that structures this Kaiju’s appearance.       

With the Godzilla Project, we aim to read every Japanese Godzilla narrative from a Lacanian psychoanalytic perspective. From Godzilla (1954) to Shin-Godzilla (2016), we will chronologically explore how the signified of Godzilla evolves throughout the years. By closely following the Japanese signifier as it unfolds in its diachronic dimension, a renewed interpretation of this icon will appear.

List of Godzilla Movies