Meaning of Swiftian | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Of or pertaining to Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Anglo-Irish satirist and essayist, or his works.
2. Of or pertaining to Taylor Swift (1989–), American singer-songwriter, or her musical and lyrical style.

Examples

“Swiftian satire”

“Nor are his ironic-human touches wanting. Almost at its birth he satirises, in his own quiet Swiftian way, an absurd tendency which has grown mightily since, and flourishes now: […]”

“It was my intent to mix serious issues and facts with irony and Swiftian satire to engage readers and make my points. No apologies on that count.”

“Swiftian chorus”

“You could hear Martin and Shellback's touch in the bright, punchy sound of those songs, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and “22.” Yet the songs are unmistakably Swiftian; […].”

“Katie is herself deeply invested in the kind of heteronormative propriety that other fans see in Taylor Swift's music, and she […] suggests that she can incorporate Swift's image of sweet wholesomeness into her own experience and articulation of lesbian relationships; yet, Katie desires to appropriate a piece of heteronormative culture—“Swiftian” propriety and sentimentality—without considering the ways that this strict view on the expression of sexual desire is connected to the ways that she is marginalized within the community because of her sexual identity.”

“The music itself is classic Taylor Swift, with a high degree of syncopation at the sixteenth-note level and a chorus melody […] Despite the fact that the song is jointly credited to Swift and Sheeran, the verses, too, contain some typically Swiftian attributes, including unexpected lengthening and truncations of phrases.”

“Still, at the movies, surrounded by a matinee crowd of older Swifties and their kids, the Swiftian portal exerted its pull.”

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