In Seminar 4 of English Literature (Taylor’s Version), we looked at the relationship between writing, gender and power, asking what Taylor Swift can teach us about literary feminism. We listened to ‘Right Where You Left Me’, ‘Dear John’, ‘Mad Woman’, ‘Hits Different’ and ‘The Man’, asking:
- What construction(s) of femininity do we see in the song?
- What is the relationship between writing and power?
- Are there any literary allusions?
- Is this a ‘feminist’ song? if so, why? If not, why not?
We used this discussion – also bringing in Swift’s re-recording of her masters, seen by many as a feminist act – to segue into two important feminist literary texts: Mary Wollstonecraft’s ‘Vindication of the Rights of Woman’ (1792) and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper (1892). I’d also asked my students to write, beforehand, their version of a ‘Vindication of the Rights of Woman’.
We explored the relationship between writing, power and patriarchy in these texts, linking them to seminal works of feminist literary criticism by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Virgina Woolf, and Adrienne Rich. We considered the rhetorical construct of femininity in these works alongside Swift’s lyrics, and ultimately situated Swift within a long genealogy of women writers who have identified creativity and art as empowering acts.
For more detailed notes, see below – thank you Björn!
Swifterature 