Intepretating Emeli Sande's Read All About It

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When I first heard Emeli Sandé’s Read all about it, I fell in love. It was a song with intense lyrics and a wonderful piano ballad. Although her song could be interpreted in a lot ways .I felt it described my quiet, timid character perfectly and had a connection with. I listened to it all the time especially when I had a terrible day. To me, Emeli Sandé was trying to encourage me to come out of my shell, overcome my fears and put the world and its troubles behind me. During the last few weeks that I have spent studying Text and Meaning, with the all the literary theories learnt in this course, Read all about it is more than the shy ones breaking out of their shell. This song when viewed through the Marxist and feminist lens speaks a simple truth: there is truly injustice in the world. The world has been divided into two, superior (bourgeois and men) and inferior (proletariat and women). Viewing my favourite song trough these analytical two lenses has not only opened my eyes to see the division and injustice in our world but also, made me realize the relationship between these two lenses. Nevertheless, it still remains my favourite text.
What is feminism anyway? Feminism cannot be tied down to a single definition because not all feminists believe in the same thing, they all have their own different set of beliefs. Feminist literary theory according to Lois Tyson (1999, p. 81) examines the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, political, social and psychological oppression of women. This song speaks about the inequality of women. In the first line of the first verse, it says ‘You have got the words to change a nation but you are biting your tongue’, this clearly describes patriarchy. Patriarchy, is the syst...

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...st and feminist literary theory have one goal, to challenge the power structures in a society. I believe that there is a relationship between the fight for both a classless society and equality among genders is not possible without the other. Inessa Armand the first leader of the women's department of the 1917 Russian Revolution said that: "If women's liberation is unthinkable without communism, then communism is unthinkable without women's liberation." This simply means patriarchy and all its unwanted baggage cannot be eradicated without uprooting obtaining a classless society. Apart from Emeli Sandé using imagery and sweet voice to create a beautiful compilation, she tells us a simple message which when viewed through these two lenses makes this clearer, has showed me the relationship between the two analytical glasses and it definitely remains my favourite text.

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