In Belgium, the University of Ghent launches a Taylor Swift-inspired English Literature course. The syllabus will look at the themes, styles and techniques employed by famous historical literary writers and their connections with the lyrics of the US pop superstar. The course is among a handful that have popped up at universities around the world as pop titan Swift has racked up hits and awards and as her Eras Tour is expected to set a record for the first billion-dollar tour.
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00:00 (audience chatter)
00:02 - Taylor Swift and literature.
00:05 - Okay, and where all the important messages
00:07 and admin and that kind of thing get sent.
00:09 - Any other questions?
00:10 (audience chatter)
00:13 And she's also identified--
00:20 (audience chatter)
00:23 (audience chatter)
00:26 - I was inspired by Taylor Swift, obviously,
00:37 as in many things I do.
00:39 So I've been a Swiftie fan for many years now,
00:43 and especially when she released "Folklore" and "Evermore",
00:45 I started thinking about the connections
00:47 between her work and literature.
00:49 Yeah.
00:53 Right, good, okay, I'm glad you said that.
00:55 Come to me.
00:56 (audience chatter)
00:59 Don't worry if you feel funny,
01:02 that's okay, that's totally fine.
01:04 I'll try and keep my voice--
01:05 Are directed at a particular reader or listener,
01:09 so I will be asking you to do a few songs,
01:11 read a few things, a few, casually read a few novels,
01:13 you know, and I'll be telling you that in seminar--
01:16 - Like I've heard other people say,
01:18 like people look down on Taylor Swift,
01:19 but I just love the fact that you look at like,
01:21 these old historical works through the lens of how,
01:25 does it influence the now?
01:27 How does this mundane song, how is it influenced
01:29 by like old, very popular literature throughout history?
01:33 (audience chatter)
01:36 - Everyone's entitled to their opinion,
01:50 but I actually think it kind of reinforces
01:53 the fact that we need these conversations about,
01:54 you know, what is literature?
01:56 Why does literature matter?
01:57 What is good literature?
01:58 Where does literature come from?
01:59 You know, all of these questions
02:01 are actually just being raised by discourse,
02:03 so I think that's really important.
02:05 - Okay, but if there isn't any more,
02:07 then I'll go and find some more.
02:09 Please write your name, right, Vanessa?
02:11 So I'll circulate some paper here,
02:14 there is a big marker pen.
02:15 Write as big and bold as possible,
02:17 'cause you don't wanna move around a bit,
02:19 so you're sitting next to someone,
02:20 there'll be quite a lot of group discussion.
02:22 Yeah, just bear with me while I try and navigate that,
02:24 this is not a lecture.
02:25 Firstly, I wanna think about the fact
02:27 that Swift herself identifies her work as literary.
02:30 She herself--
02:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]