Knowledge | Taylor Swift Scholar

Diogenes the Dragon: Battling Cynicism in Long Live

We know from Swift’s later work that she was a noted scholar of Greek philosophy during this era of her life “You know how to ball / I know Aristotle” (So High School). It is thus worth digging into Swift name dropping a group of people who were deeply upset by her success – the world-denying philosophers known as the Cynics.

Saint Stephen I just wrote you a paean: Signifier and signified in Hey Stephen

Swift, a philosopher of language, explores the relationship between a name and what it signifies by fully exploring the meaning of 'Stephen'

Swift's Theology of Noise Music in Our Song

In Our Song, noted music theorist Taylor Swift grapples with the question “What is Music?”

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The Shocking Truth: Metaphor Sparking Hope in Electric Touch

Electricity is a naturally-occurring form of power that can either kill you or be harnessed in order to enable technology that is essential to modern civilization. A romantic spark, Swift posits, can similarly lead to significant harm or true love.

Wordless Magic: Implication and Inference in Enchanted

Swift read a lot into eye contact and a quick conversation – in her mind, she decoded the message embedded in a light-hearted conversation.

Baby I’m a Firework: Illuminating Abusive Tactics in Dear John

John relied upon darkness to cover up his misdeeds. Swift becomes a radiant source of light, illuminating not just herself, but a whole town

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.

I’m not mad I’m just disappointed: Deconstructionist autocriticism in White Horse

In White Horse, Taylor Swift negates the fairy tale tropes of Love Story. She erases the relationship and writes herself a new role.

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.

See the Light : Love as Mutual Sight in Invisible

In Invisible Swift thus reemphasizes the point she made in I’m Only Me When I’m With You. Love, like friendship, is knowing and being known.

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.

Should've Said Know: Swift's Socratic Masterpiece

Swift, a Platonic philosopher, transforms a story of infidelity into a brilliant illustration of the Socratic idea that Virtue = Knowledge.