epistemology | Taylor Swift Scholar

Both an Entrance and an Exit: Derridean Deconstruction in The Other Side of the Door

Swift says “I might tell you that its over but if you look a little closer…” Like Derrida, she believes that language must be deconstructed.

Ode on a VHS Tape: Ekphrasis in The Best Day

Swift’s use of ekphrasis to describe a home video elevates this domestic scene to the realm of high art.

I Remember it All Too Well: Eyewitness Testimony in Forever & Always

In Forever & Always, Swift begins to explore a theme that she will perfect in her magnum opus All Too Well.

She says how she feels, I say nothing: Communication styles in You Belong with Me

Swift’s tour de force You Belong with Me repurposes and perfects themes that she excavated earlier in her oeuvre.

Wisdom of the Elders: 18yo Swift recalls being Fifteen

The Basics In Fifteen, a wizened Taylor Swift addresses her fifteen-year-old self. Now eighteen, Swift has acquired the wisdom that comes...

I Knew Everything When I Was Young: TS01 Full Analysis

Taylor Swift introduces herself to the world through a collection of songs that consider the nuances of what it means to know.

Better Together: Knowing and Being Known in I’m Only Me When I’m With You

In IOMWIWY, friendship is the cycle of one self reifying and being reified by another self through the effortful exchange of knowledge.

Missed Connections and Crossed Wires: Communication Breakdowns in Stay Beautiful

The Basics Like Tied Together with a Smile, Stay Beautiful is addressed to a young person who doesn’t know that they are beautiful. This...

A Penny for your Thoughts: Epistemology of the Self in Tied Together with a Smile

The Basics Taylor Swift addresses Tied Together with a Smile to a young woman who doesn’t know (oh-oh) that she’s beautiful. In the...

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