I Was There, I Was There - A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of All Too Well
Love her or hate her, Taylor Swift knows how to tell a story. In this piece, I'll use post-structural discourse analysis to construct an anatomy of meaning in a hit song.
Working hearts on a birthday card my younger child made for me.
Do you wonder why pop music is so catchy? Are you watching Taylor Swift’s career and wondering what spell she’s cast? The answers can be found through discourse analysis.
In post-structural philosophy, we understand that meaning is constructed by discourses, or groups of ideas about a thing, that exist in the social and political climate where and when we live.
A hugely impactful discursive construction is a song. Melody invokes memory and meaning is crafted in a way that compels us to sing along - it’s a distinctly human experience. We know what we know and proclaim who we are by singing it into truth in our showers, cars, dance floors.
While writing my graduate thesis, I met with my advisor, a woman who moved to the west coast after teaching in at an Ivy League school. I was thrilled to work under her and incredibly intimidated by her. For our first meeting on my thesis, I crafted careful ideas I about applying a poststructural research lens to various topics: Foucault Joins Tinder, Foucault Gets a Divorce, Foucault Attends a PTA Meeting, Foucault Goes to Crossfit.
As a first generation university student in my family of origin, I can’t stand knowledge that is incapable of existing in the “real world.” I don’t want to be just another academic who only makes sense to other academics, so taking theory to so-called benign spaces like a gym or a first date felt exciting to me. After my excited little presentation, my advisor gave me a funny look and asked you aren’t suggesting that you take Foucault to pop culture… like some kind of philosophy columnist in a woman’s magazine, are you?
Umm.
Just a quick mock-up of what my dream job of Philosophy Columnist For A Woman’s Magazine might look like, in case God, or Oprah, happens to be reading.
Here in the Heart Work universe, we reject the notion that philosophy is only meaningful if is applied to something serious.
In this article, I’ll look at the dominant subject (or identity) that is produced in the lyrics of All Too Well, how power circulates to create or maintain that subject and the places where resistance emerges. I’ll conclude by sharing why I think that discourse in particular took up such prominence in our hearts and mouths, why we scream sing it into existence, and what it says about being in love. I chose a Taylor Swift song because of her current dominance in creating and circulating meaning. Any discourse that is spoken by a person with authority will have more resonance with listeners/learners, so I was curious about the influence of her lyrics.
Let’s get into it.