@inproceedings{8752116,
  abstract     = {{Mental images have the capacity to overwhelm and haunt us, absorbing fantasy into reality. Terry Castle described this phenomenon as the spectralisation of the other and linked it to a changing perception of human experience as detached from a material reality. Ann Radcliffe’s heroine in The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) exemplifies this haunted consciousness; during her wanderings across the Pyrenees recollection and reverie subsume the real world, resulting in the ghost-like presence of absent loved ones. I’d like to take up this Romantic—or is it Gothic?—mindset and examine how it persists in the popular imagery of Romanticism as utilised by Taylor Swift in her eighth studio album, Folklore (July 2020). The indie-sounds and lyrics create an escapist atmosphere tinged with melancholy and nostalgia that is reminiscent of the nostalgic, fantastic and dreamlike wanderings of a Radcliffean heroine. Drawing a connection between Swift’s lyrical ‘I’ in Folklore and the self-haunted mindset, I examine how Romantic modes of self-representation prevail in our modern culture and what it might tell us about our current predicament vis-à-vis a Romantic preoccupation with personal experience. In analysing similar structures of feeling and expressions of escapism, melancholy, and nostalgia, I hope to contribute to a wider conversation about the persistence of Romantic habits of thought and how these still resonate and function as a source of inspiration and solace today.}},
  author       = {{Van Cauwenberg, Zoë}},
  booktitle    = {{2021 BARS International Biennial Conference, Abstracts}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Online}},
  title        = {{'Tell me what are my Wordsworth' : lyrical connections and the persistence of Romantic reverie in Taylor Swift’s Folklore (2020)}},
  url          = {{https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/3c798a684022ce0e8a60044e6de24288/folklore-dreamscape/index.html}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}