London, United Kingdom

Taylor Swift and Literature

Is the work of Taylor Swift literature?

You may have seen articles, in publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Teen Vogue, about seminars on Taylor Swift that were recently offered at some American universities. These university-level classes on Swift's work and its form, context, and implications raise all kinds of questions about what should be taught, read, and studied. Is Swift's work literature, and is it worth studying in the same way that one would study Shakespeare or Dickens? In this module, we will grapple with ideas of canonicity and literary value and think about what it means to read something as literature.

This module suggests that the lyrics of Taylor Swift can and should be read as literature. In doing so, we will pay close attention to formal elements such as rhyme and word choice. We will also analyze her songs with the help of key texts in critical theory and discuss the political, national, and historical contexts of her work. Queen Mary's London setting will encourage us to pay particular attention to the way in which the UK, and London in particular, figures in Swift's lyrics.

Swift's songs reflect on literary history; for example, "the lakes" makes references to Romantic poets and "Love Story" revises Shakespeare. In this module, we will build an understanding of Swift as an artist who is deeply interested in the relationship between her lyrics and the literature of the past.

Course leader

Dr Clio Doyle

Target group

Undergraduates.

Course aim

This course aims to:

give students the opportunity to explore the relationships between contemporary popular culture, literature, and literary theory.
explore with students Swift's body of work and what it means to take her work seriously as literature.
provide students with a supportive framework in which to develop their ability to think critically about popular culture.
introduce students to basic tools of literary study such as close reading and theoretical approaches, and encourage them to apply these tools to particular texts.

Credits info

7.5 EC
7.5 ECTS
You will study one course per Queen Mary Summer School session. Each course is worth 15 Queen Mary credits.

Usually, the 15 credits we award for each three-week Queen Mary Summer School session translate to 3–4 credits in the US system and 7.5 ECTS in the European system.

Your home institution should confirm if they will grant credit for Summer School courses. Whilst we will do everything we can to support you throughout the Summer School application process, it's your responsibility to check with your home institution if you can transfer credit from the Summer School prior to arriving at Queen Mary.

Fee info

GBP 2415: The Queen Mary Summer School costs: £2,415 per session.
We are offering a 10% early bird discount for those who apply before 31 March 2024.
From 31 March onwards we will offer a 10% discount to:
• Students and staff from partner institutions
• Alumni
• Current Queen Mary students
Accommodation
On campus accommodation will cost approximately £964 per session.
Additional costs and course excursions
Please note that some courses have some additional fees not included in the tuition fee. These fees are for activities and field trips that may take place away from our campus. We will give further details of these costs in due course.
Please note there is no deposit payment required for the Queen Mary Summer School.

Scholarships

There are no scholarships available for this course.