Status: 16/08/2023, 16:41 p.m.
By: Sven Trautwein
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Taylor Swift has sold more than 250 million records. Now her work is intended to make it easier for students to access English literature.
The concerts of the American artist Taylor Swift are always sold out in no time at all. Millions of records sold and a recently hyped book, which is supposed to be her biography, speak for a large fan base. At the University of Ghent, students will have the opportunity to examine Swift's work for parallels to classics by Shakespeare and Chaucer. Here, too, the influx of interested parties seems unbroken.
The works of the artist Taylor Swift are intended to facilitate access to English classics. © Sam Greene/The Enquirer/USA TODAY Network/Imago
The Guardian reported that the literature course offered was intended to draw parallels between classics of English literature – including works by William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer and Charlotte Brontë – and Taylor Swift. Professor Elly McCausland came up with the idea for the elective course, as she herself had always noticed similarities.
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Shortly after the election course was announced, her e-mail inbox overflowed, writes the Guardian. Never before had she received so many e-mails from interested students who wanted to attend one of her courses in such a short time. In addition, many outsiders who were eager to listen had also come forward.
Unikurs titled "Literature: Taylor's Version"
The university course, which bears the title "Literature: Taylor's Version", is to be understood as a springboard for literature education. It is about researching the classics from the 14th century up to Margaret Atwood's version of "Witch's Seed", in which she takes on the material of Shakespeare's "The Tempest".
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In a way, Shakespeare addresses the same questions as Taylor Swift does today, which seems crazy. But he does.
Elly McCausland/University of Ghent
An example of this is the song "The Great War" by Taylor Swift, which reminds McCausland of Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy", in which war and battle are impressively used as a means of illustrating pain. On the other hand, "Mad Woman" and the story it tells about patriarchy and mental health are reminiscent of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," writes Der Spiegel, referring to the article in the Guardian.
Other universities also made use of the works of Taylor Swift. In 2022, for example, students at New York University were able to engage with Taylor Swift in an "Attraction and Dislike" course. The course is suitable and academically sound for die-hard Swift fans as well as for all those who are not familiar with the artist's works.
This article was created with the help of machines and carefully reviewed by editor Sven Trautwein before publication.