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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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Teardrops All Grown Up: Hidden Desire in Taylor Swift’s I Can See You
I Can See You reads as a grown up version of Teardrops On My Guitar. The school has been replaced by the workplace and Swift’s secret thoughts about her colleague inspire sexy thoughts rather than despair.


Cleopatra and Little Miss Sunshine: Taylor Swift’s Intertextual Discourse on Feminine Power in When Emma Falls in Love
Swift thus highlights the power that a single magnetic woman has to change the world around her – whether her name is Emma, Little Miss Sunshine, or Cleopatra. Simultaneously, however, Swift’s intertextual references remind us that with great power comes great responsibility.


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.


Only a Man in a Funny Red Sheet: Anticlimax in Taylor Swift’s Superman
Superman is the final bonus track fromSpeak Now. We find Taylor Swift once again critiquing her own tendency to impose tropes from fiction onto her own life.
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