Behind the Spotlight of an Icon: An Investigation into the Construction of Taylor Swift's Authentic Star Image

Kenny, Meghan

Behind the Spotlight of an Icon: An Investigation into the Construction of Taylor Swift's Authentic Star Image

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10456/57659

Author(s)

Kenny, Meghan

Date Issued

April 18, 2024

Abstract

The following sections aim to illustrate exactly how Taylor Swift’s star image has been constructed through a lens of authenticity. First, by outlining a brief history of how Taylor Swift’s star image has shifted throughout her career, through examining how the media has written about and understood Swift over the years. Second, by exploring what it means to be authentic in the music industry as defined by academic scholars Simon Frith, Will Straw, and John Street in their book, The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock, and by Michael Serazio in his book, The Authenticity Industries, as well as by Emma Mayhew in her journal article, “Women in Popular Music and the Construction of ‘Authenticity’”. Finally, I will employ the theoretical concepts outlined by those scholars to analyze three case studies; first: Taylor Swift’s third-studio album, Speak Now, from the fact that it was an entirely self-written album, to the media discourse surrounding its release, to analyzing three specific songs off the album, second: media discourse surrounding Taylor Swift’s genre shift from country to pop with the release of her fifth studio-album 1989, and third: analyzing a moment during Taylor Swift’s 2023 and 2024 The Eras Tour, in order to understand how these moments work together to construct an authentic star image for Taylor Swift. Overall, I argue that Taylor Swift’s star image has been constructed through a lens of authenticity.

Major

Communication and Media

First Reader(s)

Tompkins, Joseph F.