FINAL Lit Review
Alexis Spurlock
Dr. Vrooman
COMM 378
10 December 2021
Ladies Lunching: Songs as Literary Texts
Introduction
Until recently, songs were not necessarily thought of or considered as literary texts. While they resemble poetry, many still believe they are two completely separate forms of media and therefore cannot be counted together in the same category. In this paper, I will highlight other’s arguments which attempt to explain why songs lyrics could, in fact, be viewed as literature; as well as analyze and categorize a group of song lyrics written by the musical artist Taylor Swift according to different phases of feminist criticism. By the end, I hope to have a conclusion that determines whether Taylor Swift’s lyrics can be considered a form of literature or not and also how “feminist” they actually are.
Lyrics as Literature
Throughout history, pop culture- such as music- and literature have been kept apart, being seen as separate things that do not overlap: each staying in its respective field. However, in 2016, this way of thinking was contested when Bob Dylan, a famous singer-songwriter, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” (nobelprize.org). This was a huge breakthrough in the case for musical lyrics being taken seriously and being given the same attitude and prestige as classical literature, like Shakespeare’s sonnets. Lyrics may look a little different or repeat phrases more often than other types of literature; however, some sources say they are still literary texts, as they are considered works of the creative imagination (thoughtco.com). Another definition of literature that could be used in this argument states that it is “not only what is written but what is voiced, what is expressed, what is invented, in any form” (harpers.org). “Any form” suggests that lyrics fall into the category of literature as well.
Two literary theorists, Karl Marx and Kenneth Burke, could further support this argument. Marxists view texts as material products, seeing literary works as products of work (Murfin/Ray 243). This suggests that a “text” is anything that is made by the product of labor- anything that somebody put work into to create. Such is the case with songs and the way they are created. Furthermore, in his novel The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action, Burke uses the term “poetry” to “include any work of critical or imaginative cast” (Burke 1).
Taylor Swift’s Lyrics as Literature
Based on all of these arguments, it could be determined that Taylor Swift’s lyrics should be counted as literature as well. Going even further into depth as to the reasons behind this conclusion, Taylor Swift is arguably just as prolific and popular as Bob Dylan who, as previously mentioned, won the Nobel Prize in Literature. She has released around 200 songs in her 15 year long career, is the second most streamed female artist on Spotify (modachicago.org), and at the American Music Awards in 2019, she won the Artist of the Decade award. Not only does she make use of plenty of figurative language in her lyrics, she also uses tons of allusions to other literary texts, such as The Great Gatsby, Alice in Wonderland, The Sun Also Rises, etc. She is also a storyteller: creating different characters and scenarios in her songs that play out similarly to how a novel would. A prime example of this is the love triangle between Betty, James, and August told in a series of 3 songs where each gets a voice to recall the events from the same situation, but in their own points of view.
Feminist Theory
Feminist criticism can be seperated into two categories. The first focuses on women as readers and is concerned with women being the consumer of male produced literature. It also examines the exploitation and manipulation of the female audience, as well as how the interpretation of the text changes when its reader is female. The second category focuses on women as writers and producers of textual meaning. This includes studying female creativity, language, and the writer’s literary career or history (Showalter).
There are also phases of feminsit writing, sorted as: Feminine, Feminist, and Female. In the Feminine phase, women internalized what men said about them and wrote in an effort to match the opposite sex’s intellectual achievments. This included taking on the persona of a man and the use of pseudonyms (alias’) in order to publish their works. During the Feminist phase, women contested the previous notions of females and wrote stories about women being mistreated and misrepresented; and it began challenging the patriarchy. Finally, in the Female phase, women “reject both imitation and protest” and instead attempt to redefine the female experience (Showalter). They are no longer attempting to prove that women’s writings are valuable, they assume they are and carry on as if their works have just as much right to be read as the works of man do. They do not try to prove their validity to anyone, they simply exist without trying to justify why they should be able to.
Third Wave Feminism branches off of the previous waves, which main focus is on white, heterosexual, middle class women, and expands to include marginalized people groups including the LGBTQ+ community and people of color (owl.purdue.edu).
Song Analysis
I chose 6 songs from Taylor Swift's albums folklore and evermore: “Betty,” “No Body, No Crime,” “Mad Woman,” “The Last Great American Dynasty,” “Cardigan,” and “Dorothea.” Using Elaine Showalters feminist theory, I seperated each of these songs into one of the 3 phases of feminism.
In the Feminine stage, I placed the song “Betty” because in it, Taylor literally writes from the perspective of a male, James. The song is a plea for his love, Betty, to take him back after he cheats and by writing the lyrics from James’ point of view rather than Betty’s, Taylor takes on the persona of the boy, much like the pseudonyms women writers used in the time of the Feminine era. It is mimicking men’s writing.
“No Body, No Crime” and “Mad Woman” are both placed in the Feminist phase because they embody the female rage that was present in this phase. “NBNC” is about a man cheating on his wife and then killing her when she threatens to expose him. Afterward, the wife’s best friend murders him and let’s his mistress take the fall. “Mad Woman” is also about the mistreatment of women. The message behind it is that women are called crazy for speaking up for themselves and not staying silent like a “good” woman should. It states that men are the ones who make them mad and then completely gaslight them later.
Finally, the songs in the Female phase definitely lack the anger of the Feminine phase and contain lyrics that don’t try to imitate male writing nor do they attempt to protest it; they just exist. The songs I chose for this era are: “The Last Great American Dynasty,” “Cardigan,” and “Dorothea.” “TLGAD” is a fun song about the history of a house. It has some underlying feminist themes, especially when talking about Rebekkah, the previous owner of the house. “Cardigan” is the same story as “Betty,” but from Betty’s point of view. Just by existing, telling the same story as the one a man has already told, it represents the idea that a woman’s words are just as valuable as a man’s. Lastly, “Dorothea” definitely attempts to redefine the female experience. It paints the picture of a woman who has left her hometown and makes a name for herself, meanwhile her past lover is waiting at home for when she returns, if ever.
Method
To start this project, I had to research feminist criticism and what it entails. I found Elaine Showalter’s theory and read multiple sources that laid out what it was, what it consisted of, etc. I then needed to find arguments made about why song lyrics should be considered literature and make connections across all of the sources to find what the high points were. After that, I found explanations for how Taylor Swift’s lyrics specifically should be counted as literature. Once I discovered the arguments for why, I had to decide whether they were good enough to accept. I also spoke to multiple different professors about this project in order to come to a conclusion.
Conclusion
With most of the background knowledge and research, the final step was to analyze Taylor Swift’s song lyrics using a feminist theory lens. While doing this with the small portion of songs I chose from her entire discography, I found that the majority of her songs fell into the Female phase of Elaine Showalter’s feminsit theory. This proves that Taylor Swift’s lyrics are indeed feminist, however, without further digging and analyzing, the depth of this feminism can not be found; therefore, based on this small sample, the feminism is surface-level. As for whether or not her lyrics, or any song lyrics for that matter, can officially be classified as literature, my conclusion is that if they can, it is probably because the sources used were not very credible. When doing my research, I found multiple articles that said that song lyrics, and specifically Swift’s, were literature. However, after speaking to professors and researching some more, it is determined that they are not literary texts, but cultural texts. This means that they are story-telling tools that help shape the culture of a society- representing that society and its culture (Carah).
Works Cited
“Analysis of Song Lyrics.” Bartleby,
www.bartleby.com/essay/Analysis-of-Song-Lyrics-FKK9C2936YZA.
Bingham, Roxanne. “Taylor Swift-The Poet of Our Generation.” The Spellbinding Shelf, 31 Dec.
2020, thespellbindingshelf.blog/2021/01/09/taylor-swift-the-poet-of-our-generation/.
Carah, Nicholas. “Cultural Texts.” Nicholas Carah, Nicholas Carah, 3 Mar. 2017,
nicholascarah.com/log/2017/3/2/cultural-texts.
Full Text of "Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action",
archive.org/stream/philosophyoflite00inburk/philosophyoflite00inburk_djvu.txt.
Henderson, Greig E. “‘Literature Makes Something Happen’: Frank Lentricchia on Kenneth
Burke.” University of Toronto Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 3, July 2014, pp. 303–312. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.ezproxytlu.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edspmu&AN=edspmu.S1712527885300095&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Krystal, Arthur, et al. “[Criticism]: What Is Literature, by Arthur Krystal.” Harper's Magazine,
18 Aug. 2014, harpers.org/archive/2014/03/what-is-literature/.
Larocca, Courteney. “Taylor Swift Is the Artist of the Decade.” Insider, Insider, 12 Dec. 2020,
www.insider.com/taylor-swift-artist-of-the-decade-2010s-2019-12.
Lee, Grace. “On Taylor Swift's Longstanding Cultural Impact.” MODA, MODA, 8 Apr. 2021,
www.modachicago.org/blog/2021/2/15/on-taylor-swifts-longstanding-cultural-impact.
Lombardi, Esther. “What Literature Can Teach Us.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 31 Jan. 2020,
www.thoughtco.com/what-is-literature-740531.
Murfin, Ross C., and Supryia M. Ray. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms.
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2018.
Purdue Writing Lab. “Feminist Criticism // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab,
Showalter, Elaine. “Toward a Feminist Poetics.” Toward a Feminist Poetics,
historiacultural.mpbnet.com.br/feminismo/Toward_a_Feminist_Poetics.htm.
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2021. Sun. 17 Oct
2021. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2016/summary/.
Comments
Post a Comment