Sunday 28th September 2025
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On Misunderstanding Taylor Swift

Khusrau Islam
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On Misunderstanding Taylor Swift

True innovation in literature is hard to achieve — the same is true of music. But we can still see the value in certain stories and works. If we were to begin applying different metrics to music, we might be able to see a new value in what we listen to today. With that in mind, by looking at the ancient Greek literature of Homer from c. 800 BC, and using Taylor Swift as a case study, I hope to change the way you think about musicians today.

The poems of the earliest Greek poets, such as Homer, were not original in content; they were innovative in the way they drew together multiple different sources. When we consider that all stories can arguably be boiled down to seven basic plots, it is not hard to imagine why even the Greek poets struggled to come up with something new. 

This is demonstrated by Homer’s Iliad, one of the oldest Greek poems that we have today. The story of Achilles would have been familiar to Homer’s audience, who would have been acquainted with the broader narrative context of the Trojan Cycle, a key theme in the songs of many contemporary poets. 

One of the central aspects of Homer’s Iliad is the grief of Achilles over the death of his loved one, Patroclus. This is borrowed from the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh (a twelfth century BC text from Ancient Iraq) – the titular hero suffers great anguish at the death of Enkidu, his loved one. Thematically, even Homer’s considerations such as tragedy of mortality set against the backdrop of immortal gods are borrowed from Gilgamesh. In a longer piece, further extensive correspondences could be highlighted (and caveats included), including those found in other ancient Greek texts. None of this diminishes the value in reading the Iliad, but it is worth noting that Homer is leaning heavily on precedent texts. 

The way these poems have been constructed constitutes a large part of what makes them so impressive. Looking particularly at the Iliad, we see the central framework of the story: there is a tripartite structure, with Books 1-9 constituting the setup of Achilles’ wrath, Books 10-16 being the consequence of Achilles’ continued wrath, and Books 17-24 constituting Achilles’ return to battle and the ramifications. This is the basic core of the poem.

The text is then overlaid with ring composition to bind the whole poem together and underlined with sub-narratives of anger to reflect the overall plot of the poem. Another distinctive structural feature is how pairs and triplets of events build into each other, such as the deaths of Sarpedon, Patroclus, and Hector all making the next one more intense, each with an emotional setup, build-up, and climax. Most of these events fit into three categories: either stock stories like the ‘anger cycle’ taken from Homer’s tradition, real events including the death of Hector lifted from their shared tradition, or parallels to earlier traditions, such as the Gilgamesh. These influences were distilled into a framework handed down to Homer, and the bard was able to process it all into a finely woven composition. 

Again, this is not to deny the value in analysing the themes that occur in the poem, nor to suggest that it is not a joy to read for its in-depth characterisation, engrossing descriptions, and exciting passages of narrative. Instead, I am merely trying to highlight another metric by which to analyse the poems: intricacy of composition. 

Innovation in music is also arguably difficult: it suffers from the same narrative constraints as literature, and there are limitations imposed by the sonic form. For instance, across a set of parameters, every melody has been produced by a computer and copyrighted, while there are only 243 combinations of 3 notes by 5 notes, demonstrating that there is a limit to the potential of sonic innovation. Admittedly, we may be far from this ceiling, but I think that the existence of limits should prompt us to consider new ways to analyse song writing. One way could be the same as epic literature, exploring the way musical precedent is used to weave intricate and complex compositions. 

A quick example of this is the use of sampling: often, musicians take other musicians’ work and incorporate the sounds into the fabric of their own song to great effect – consider Kanye West’s sampling of Daft Punk’s ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’; and ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’ sampling Edwin Birdsong’s ‘Cola Bottle Baby’. In all these cases, musicians have been able to take songs from completely different genres and work them into their own compositions. Similarly, the ancient poet Hesiod included didactic literature, apocalyptic prophecies, and catalogue poetry in his Works and Days. But this should not be viewed as negative: instead, artists have and continue to draw on different genres to produce masterful works.

Just as certain sounds recur, certain themes are repeated in song writing. There are an incredibly large number of songs about heartbreak revolving around themes of affairs, falling out of love, and lovers being taken too soon. World Peace seems to be a popular subject too, just consider ‘Imagine’, ‘Give Me Love’, ‘Heal the World’, ‘We are here’ and the like.

Sometimes, motifs are also shared between songs, including singing from the perspective of the devil. This is common to the rock genre, demonstrated in  ‘Devil’s Child’ (Judas Priest), ‘Friend of the Devil’ (Grateful Dead), and, of course, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ (the Rolling Stones). While these examples are inexhaustive, they should demonstrate how, in thematic terms, songs tend not to innovate but rather build upon motifs and tropes with a broder universal appeal to produce something intricate and unique, much like the incorporation of other sounds through sampling. ‘Devil’s Child’, for example, uses the Devil motif in combination with those of heartbreak – thus drawing on different genres, motifs, and traditions. Instead of focussing on the artistic talent of innovation and creativity, we should focus on the composition, like we do for the Iliad. 

Taylor Swift’s music is indicative of this sort of composition. She has been lambasted for the use of repetitive motifs and themes, particularly those surrounding heartbreak. However,her work is highly versatile, if not on thematic terms then in composition. ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ (LWYMMD) highlights Taylor’s ability to use structure, contemporary events, and narrative to create complex musical pieces. She has successfully performed the transition from the country genre through to pop, gaining mastery over the latter genre’s song structure. She has consistently incorporated different ideas and influences into her music, even as she shifts again into the alternative genre. This is where we can see artistic value: the composition of her music is intricate and complex.  

LWYMMD is a useful starting point to highlight Swift’s understanding of different motifs, and how she uses them to derive meaning. Classic FM analysed LWYMMD from a music theory standpoint, and came to the conclusion that the song consistently leads the listener’s expectations in ascertain direction before failing to satisfy these expectations. After hearing this lead single, pundits from news outlet NPR predicted Taylor would play the victim on the rest of ‘Reputation’. Upon the release, it became clear the album is not a bitter collection of vitriolic songs, but actually mostly explores her feelings in a new relationship. Throughout ‘Reputation’, Taylor points to what she could have done – a grand chorus, or a bitter revenge album – but instead takes it in a different direction. In the opening section of the Odyssey, Zeus discusses justice and revenge, leading the audience to expect a story centred around these themes. However, Homer instead goes in a different direction: he has hinted at what he could explore but instead proceeds to write about different subject matter. In the same way, LWYMMD points to certain themes and techniques that she could have chosen to use, the rest of the album is almost completely different. 

The weaving of different themes and qualities into her music is best seen in  her transition through to pop. By the publishing of ‘1989’ in 2014, Taylor had dropped her country accent almost completely, increasingly conforming to the standards of pop in spite of criticism. However, she has not dropped her country roots. Firstly, she still sings of troubles specific to her, a motif common to country music and has also borrowed tropes such as escaping the small town. As she progresses to pop, Taylor keeps hold of the emotional energy of country, with all its personal power. 

When she does reach pop music, she exerts an extreme amount of control and mastery over commonly used sonic structures. ‘Blank Space’ parodies both the narratives surrounding her and general pop structures. This is done by the marking out of the chorus and the excessive use of four chords that are commonly used throughout music. The basic structure of a song is tripartite: setup, build-up, and climax, often corresponding to the sections verse-chorus, verse-chorus, bridge-chorus.‘Shake It Off’, as basic as it may seem, is one of the most complex songs on the album ‘1989’. This is because each sub-setup, build-up, and climax have their own setup, build-up, and climax. We praise Homer for his ability to expand on his basic structural frameworks: to appreciate the artistry of the compositions, we should look at Taylor’s songs in the same way. 

Her use of the bridge is a good example of structural frameworks being adapted to great effect. Though others might be regarded as the “classic” Taylor Swift bridges, such as ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’ and ‘All too Well’, the bridge in Illicit Affairs (IA) is demonstrative of this. The song discusses an affair from the perspective of “the other woman”. Throughout, Swift addresses how affair partners are forced to hide their trysts, resulting in the need to deny the feelings they have. This is echoed in the bridge where she writes about how she was shown “colours you know I can’t see with anyone else” and taught “a secret language I can’t speak with anyone else” – there is nothing she can do about her feelings. She disrupts the ordinary song structure by having the bridge fade into the outro, and not another chorus. Here, the bridge leads nowhere, just like an illicit affair, in which you must deny all your true feelings and hide it from everyone you know, cannot lead anywhere. Through her song structure, Swift supports the narrative thesis of the song. 

Another example is the use of set phrases to convey meaning. Homer does this to an extent: while his use of epithets is often dictated by metrical constraints, it can sometimes derive meaning. This happens in Iliad Book 22, where the phrase “swift-footed Achilles” is used to foreshadow Achilles’ eventual catching of Hector, enabled by his speed. The use of the phrase foreshadows the eventual event. 

This use of phrases to derive specific meaning can also be seen in Swift’s music. For example, in ‘Hey Stephen’, she sings the line ‘I can’t help it if you look like an angel / can’t help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain’: on a surface level it is easy to see how the use of angel imagery evokes a positive impression of love. On ‘White Horse’, she sings, ‘Say you’re sorry, that face of an angel / comes out just when you need It to’: on the next track of the album, the angel imagery has been twisted to produce opposite feelings of heartbreak. The way of using this image is not new – consider the angel motif in ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ – but just because the motif is repeated or inherited does not reduce its value: the use of the phrase gives meaning within the song. Just as Homer adapts stock imagery to his needs, here Swift uses a common motif in multiple ways to offer value. 

Swift is also able to draw on a wealth of ideas and influences, further highlighting her artistic talent. It is certainly true that in the past she was considered to have written solely about love, or ‘silly’ themes like teenage heartbreak, but enough people, even national newspapers like the Washington Post, have acknowledged the versatility in her themes. A few examples of this versatility include social anxiety in ‘Mirrorball’, dealing with her mother’s illness in ‘Soon You’ll Get Better’, her love for her late grandmother in ‘Marjorie’, or discussing teenage love from different perspectives in two consecutive singles, ‘White Horse’ and ‘Love Story’. With over 150 songs in her discography, it would be surprising if she had not written lyrics across a broad spectrum of themes. 

However, it is worth noting how she draws different ideas and themes into the makeup of her songs, such as in cardigan. Here, she explores affairs (“chase two girls, lose the one”), growing up (“when you are young, they assume you know nothing”), and heartbreak (“chasin’ shadows in the grocery line”). The imagery combines fairy tales (“Peter losing Wendy”), fashion (“high heels on cobblestones”, etc.), and broken families (“leaving like a father”). These are very brief examples that highlight the way in which Swift has returned to the realm of high school love triangles to give a much more nuanced perspective. At this point, rather than simply providing an in-depth exploration of one theme, or a completely innovative narrative, she layers in all manners of imagery to craft a reflection on cheated on whilst young. 

With examples like IA, LWYMMD, and cardigan in particular, I hope to have shown how value and meaning can be derived from the way the songs are composed. There are many other features of her music I could have explored, such as the sampling of ‘I’m Too Sexy’ in LWYMMD or of her own heartbeat in Wildest Dreams. However, this past section has aimed to show there is an inherent artistry behind Taylor Swift’s songs in the way different themes and structures have been layered into what we hear. 

I believe this analysis could be fruitful for music in general. True innovation is possible, but it becomes increasingly difficult and rare to find. Instead, we can derive value from the way music is composed. Of course, a song could be the most impressively intricate and complex song ever created, and people would not be obliged to enjoy it. This exploration is not a demand for people to start enjoying music on these grounds. Certainly, I listen to Taylor Swift almost solely because I enjoy listening to the sounds and lyrics of her music. However, I believe this sort of analysis could lead to a new appreciation of different songs. The poems of Homer have value outside of their composition yet analysing the poet’s craft reveals their true skill in writing. Similarly, by analysing modern music on these terms, we might reach a new level of appreciation for modern artists.

Image Credit: Eva Rinaldi / CC-BY-SA 2.0

Staying in to ensure a safe night out

Issy Kenney-Herbert and Ellie Redpath
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Staying in to ensure a safe night out

In many ways, throughout 2021, it’s felt like news about violence towards women and other people marginalised by gender has been inescapable. The tragic murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, as well as those of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry in June of last year, have shaken public consciousness and reminded us all that for many women, other people affected by misogyny, and people of colour, the streets are still not entirely safe. This month, however, the media focus has shifted away from our streets and into our nightclubs. 

Drink spiking has been growing even prior to the pandemic, between 2015-2018 saw a 108% rise in the number of reports to the police. However, recently several reports of spiking via injection have gone viral on social media and made mainstream news, suggesting that a new method may have arisen in response to people being more careful with their drinks. According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, there have been almost 200 reports of spiking over the last two months alone, and then 24 reports involving injection with a needle. These reports have justifiably heightened fear amongst women and marginalised genders – so much is still unknown about these injections, what substances are being used, and how harmful they have the potential to be. The anxiety surrounding this issue has even resulted in several false posts circulating, claiming that women who have been spiked via injection have contracted HIV (while some women have been tested for HIV, at the time of writing no-one is known to have tested positive). 

Girls Night In was a campaign that took off on a national level in response to these growing concerns. Calls across over fifty cities have seen women and marginalised genders make plans to make their voices heard. Demonstrations and nights in have been orchestrated – as an outlet of these fears, but increasingly to also put pressure on nightclubs to take responsibility for the environment that they create. 

However, responsibility looks different to different people, and there has been significant discussion over how to address these issues. Bouncers, further security, bag searches and full body searches have all been suggested amongst this mounting pressure to resort to some seemingly ‘traditional’ means of keeping safe. Yet, we have to question who these actually serve and who is kept safe or further marginalised by the employment of these methods? Thorough bag and body searches, more CCTV cameras, and increased policing won’t be what ends spiking. Instead, it will result in marginalised people, especially men of colour and queer people, being disproportionately targeted, and recreational drug users being prosecuted far more frequently. Carceral feminism is not our way out of this. What we need to change the culture around spiking, as well as education about consent, is to shift the entire atmosphere within nightclubs. 

The broad approach across this campaign has been to emphasise prevention, welfare and support instead. The power of social media for organising has once again been emphasised with rapid transfer of information and aims shared across disparate groups, resulting in a list of national demands being made including: “regular and comprehensive active bystander training for all bar and club staff” and “for nightclubs to have a designated and identifiable welfare officer”. The welfare role in particular involves comprehensive training to combat spiking and sexual assault, with the officer position being said to “be able to provide a safe way home, intervene in cases of sexual harassment, being able to identiy what spiking looks like or what a victim looks like, being able to identify and interven in hate crimes.” It is clear through this movement of a wider direction in feminism taking place – a direction that sees us placing the responsibility of those around us, and institutions taking clear steps not the victim themselves being held responsible. 

Yet, whilst this has largely been reflected in the organising groups, this has not necessarily been reflected by nightclubs and other institutions themselves.The pressure on nightclubs to address the issue and change policy has been mounting every day, and the response from clubs in Oxford has been varied, and not always satisfactory. The Bullingdon has committed to never leave anyone intoxicated and vulnerable on their own, and trains all staff in the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme, and ATIK has similarly stated this as their policy. ATIK’s post on instagram reassured that “our teams are trained on the issue of drink spiking. They are aware of what to look out for and what to do.” Similar to the Bullingdon, they emphasised their “We Care policy which is about making sure we look after our customers and that everyone who comes to us gets home safely” and reassured customers “we will never ask anyone to leave on their own and our staff are able to arrange for a taxi or friend/family member to collect you.” They finally stressed their provision of anti-spiking devices: “we will provide anti-spiking bottle stoppers and protective drink covers as soon as we can get some more.”

Yet ATIK’s response has been met with harsh criticism and comments of people’s experiences that contradict their official policy. ATIK’s initial instagram stated that ‘these incidents are incredibly rare’ which was seen by some as being dismissive of the rising numbers and an attempt to emphasise that their policy is comprehensive enough to address a relatively small issue. Their comments have been filled with outrage and personal testimonies of people who had experienced something different than ATIK’s official policy: “Where was this when your security was leaving my friend alone and unable to walk on the street outside the club?” “Absolutely none of this was in place or evidenced when your bouncers carried our friend who had been spiked out and left her on the street”. One said “Yes you really ‘cared’ when your security guard dumped my friend who has been spiked out on the street. Or when you referred to the incident as an ‘inconvenience’ via email after she spent the night in A&E.’ These comments are effectively summed up with one final remark: “all of this stuff would be great if it were actually enforced by the club and not just listed in a statement.”

Ultimately, clubs don’t seem to envision a world in which spiking does not happen, and despite their good intentions, this automatically places the onus on the individual to go out of their way to avoid being spiked, and go through the stress of reporting it when it does happen. While perhaps not as extreme, it stems from the same line of thinking that inspired Durham SU to tweet that spiking is “dangerous and something that you can prevent from happening to you and your friends” and creating the hashtag “#dontgetspiked”.

Atik has responded to some of this criticism by announcing: “After much consideration and after listening to both our staff and our guests, we can confirm we’ve taken the decision to close our student night, Park End, on Wednesday 27th October in solidarity with the nightlife boycott… We would like to show our support to our student partners this Wednesday in raising the awareness of safety in the night time economy. Let’s work together to stamp this out.” They further committed to “guest safety” and stated that they will work to “continue to improve the measures we have in place with improvements to our training programmes, communication of our We Care programme and ant-spiking devices being made available.” This response has been well received, yet people have questioned the motives especially with mourning national pressure and the questions regarding costs – one comment said “is this in solidarity or because you’d lose money being open?” It is a move in the right direction, but the question remains – when the media coverage dies down, when it is not a question of just not opening one night, will they continue to work towards these aims? Will there be more stories where the narrative perpetuated on social media and for their publicity is different than the lived experiences of marginalised genders and communities on nights out? 

At the moment, the role of bouncers and security staff seems to be to keep the nightclub as a business safe, but why can’t the focus change? What if, instead of refusing very drunk women entry to clubs and leaving them to walk home alone, the protocol was to get them some water, call one of their friends, and make sure they get home safe? What if clubs stopped selling lids and scrunchies for drinks for profit, and instead gave them out for free, as well as making sure any reports of spiking are taken incredibly seriously? Clubs can’t ensure that everyone is safe by making us pay for our own cup covers and then treating inebriated, vulnerable people as mere annoyances. They should be places to let go – but we can’t all let go together if we’re not also looking after each other. 

Image Credit: Meghana Geetha

“There is more to you than you think…That seems to be the essence of faith”: Lord Rowan Williams speaks at Oxford Union

Meghana Geetha
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“There is more to you than you think…That seems to be the essence of faith”: Lord Rowan Williams speaks at Oxford Union

Lord Rowan Williams, addressed the Oxford Union on 10th November. After the event, Lord Williams spoke to Cherwell regarding the public understanding and questioning of faith. 

The former Archbishop of Canterbury is one of the leading religious figures in recent British history. He has shown a long commitment to fighting injustice, having marched with Extinction Rebellion and having been arrested in 1985 for protesting against nuclear weapons. 

Among the subjects discussed at the talk included assisted suicide. When asked for his view, Lord Williams said: “My personal view on assisted suicide is not religious, because I don’t have a right as a religious person to contradict the society.”

Cherwell: Considering the Church of England’s consistent decline in congregation size, do you think the move away from the traditional parish system is the route forward for the Church of England to build back?

Lord Williams: “There is quite a lot of misinterpretation on this issue. What people have looked at is what supplements the parish system. But the fact is that, people still have a relationship very often, with the parish church. More people than we think. People still trust the parish church as something that will be there for them even if they don’t turn up. I think, it is hard to lose it.”

What are the justifications for and how do you think the church should be political in the present day?

“I don’t think the church should ever be bound to a political program. It is not a party organisation. But what the Church can do in a huge variety of ways, is to remind the world around of what matters about human beings. That maybe done as basic as organising a local route of visiting people in the suburb of Cardiff. It maybe somebody from the Church, perhaps the Pope addressing the whole nation. It maybe anything in between. 

“The fundamental thing is, how do we stand up for what we believe is, duty of human beings. Being critical about nuclear weapons or not, it boils down to what one thinks human beings are worthy of or not.”

On langauge and faith, how do you think we can interpret and proclaim the Gospel today in the way that it means belonging to a faith or lack of faith in our generation?

“I don’t think the answer is to ever make it easy. We are talking about another world, another kingdom in Jewish and Christian terms. We are talking about a state of affairs where the will of God shapes human actions and interactions. That’s not where we are. 

“The strangeness of the words of the Bible is a part of how we speak of that. The challenge then is to make that something different from just having a tribal dialect that we speak to one another, that never communicates. That is challenge every priest faces in the Church. I don’t think the answer is turning our back on the unusual and difficult aspects of what we say. It’s a matter of our own commitment to that mystery and vision being such that, people say, ‘it looks like as if that makes a difference’.

“I am surprised sometimes, by how unexpected people get the point of this. They don’t need things explained in a patronising way. They see that it’s different and can turn one inside-out. 

“I suppose, someone from a council estate from South London, came to their first Shakespeare play. Very often, it can speak to them. 

“There’s more to you than you think. There’s more to the world than you think. That seems to be the essence of faith. More to you than you think, it is good news, it is the Gospel.”

Do you have any regrets from your time as an archbishop?            

“I occasionally regret saying yes to that question. But obviously one makes mistakes, handles things poorly on a weekly basis. I don’t think I recall anything in particular. But I am very sad that we did not manage to see through the ordination of women’s bishops when I was still in the office. That failed in my last meeting. You just have to revise what counts as success sometimes.”

Image Credit: Meghana Geetha 

For art’s sake: How NFTs are changing the way we appreciate art

Sonya Ribner
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For art’s sake: How NFTs are changing the way we appreciate art

CHAOS. Or maybe that’s every new beginning? Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a game-changer for asset ownership. Now, the purchase of any digital asset – a music album, a tweet, a never-before-seen section of the Pulp Fiction screenplay – can be recorded on a blockchain, a ledger that gives original works in the digital space a guarantee of authenticity. The blockchain’s immutable signature also provides provenance, enabling content creators to be recognized for their work. NFTs have taken commodities markets by storm, but no system has been rocked like that of the art world. Toeing the line between commercialization and creativity, NFTs pose the fundamental question: what is the value of art?

Beeple’s EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS sold at Christie’s in March for $69,346,250. The high price tag of the purely digital work with its own NFT struck many as a bubble about to burst. However, this year, Hiscox UK, an underwriter of commercial and personal risk, published in their Online Art Trade Report that the shift to online is likely to outlast the pandemic with 56% of art buyers and 65% of online art platforms stating the switch to digital sales will be permanent. Most of these sales can be attributed to NFTs in art: an estimated $3.5 billion of NFT crypto art and collectables were sold from the beginning of January to the end of September 2021 alone.

If brick and mortar galleries were slow to embrace digital art creation, they’re getting the picture now. At Art Basel, the Berlin-based Gallery Nagel Draxler sold an NFT by crypto-artist Olive Allen, Post-death or The Null Address NFT, for 8 Ethereum, about €25,000, on the exposition’s opening day. Loïc Gouzer, who famously set a record for the most expensive painting ever sold at public auction when he brought the gavel down on Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci to the tune of $450.3 million, left Christie’s to found Fair Warning, a members’ only online platform for art collectors. Gouzer firmly believes the future of art is digital: “The NFT sphere will be a catalyst that will give a voice to a new generation of artists and expand the palette of expressions for established artists that are not afraid to embrace paradigm shifts.” Indeed, the easily disseminated digital asset allows artists to keep up pace with the globalisation of visual media, a phenomenon expedited by social media.

When Lawrence Gagosian, world-renowned owner of Gagosian Gallery, stated he simply did not understand the new technology well enough to partner with Fair Warning for Urs Fischer’s CHAOS NFT series, Fischer went to Pace Gallery which has a newly minted platform dedicated to NFTs. Still, the fact that I can attach Urs Fischer’s CHAOS #1 Human and a link to the full animation (https://www.chaosoahchaos.com/1/) to this article is of itself the evident problem with NFTs for art collectors: if an image appears on your screen for free in the same way it appears to the buyer who paid nearly $100,000 for the animation based on a 3D-scan of a lighter encircling an egg, then why invest at all? 

In 1936, art historian and philosopher Walter Benjamin published The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction to grapple with how the innovations of his day, namely photography, would forever change the public’s appreciation of art. He used the term aura to define what even the most perfect reproduction lacks: unity of a specific place and time at the moment of creation. Therein lies the revolution of NFTs: every object has the same aura. Whether you have the psychic income of owning CHAOS #1 Human or happen to click on the URL that leads to the same animation viewed by the rest of the world, your experience of the work is the exact same. 

Debates surrounding whether the rising popularity of NFTs will eclipse the demand for “real” art (visual works that exist in the real world) critically take for granted the mediums in which the artworks are produced. Beeple’s JPG is not trying to replace da Vinci’s oil on canvas; the same system for evaluating the qualities of EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 500 DAYS does not apply to Salvator Mundi. The appreciation of an artwork should consider the capabilities of the canvas. Jacob Barnes, gallerist and founder of Grove Collective, explains that “NFTs are simultaneously everything and nothing to the art market; they are never going to replace physical art in the way that ebooks have not replaced books, but they provide an opportunity for a completely ancillary market that can develop into something quite meaningful, both to art production and markets.” 

NFTs are not inconsistent with artistic creativity, rather, they are a vehicle for its democratization. Yet, certain projects such as “The Tarantino NFTs”, a collection of single iconic scenes from Pulp Fiction that feature personalized audio commentary by the acclaimed director, present a “choose your own adventure” approach to art sharing. Once a buyer owns one of these NFTs they “will enjoy the freedom of choosing between: 1. Keeping the secrets to himself for all eternity; 2. Sharing the secrets with a few trusted loved ones; 3. Sharing the secrets publicly with the world,” according to the website. The freedom to house a private collection on your computer or to turn the world into a museum adds a certain moral component to the ownership of NFTs that precludes the digital asset from being considered art for art’s sake. Additionally, the existence of a guarantee of authenticity responds to the art world’s need to monetise production and recognises creators of digital content. 

NFTs do challenge traditional conceptions of ownership. Urs Fischer’s CHAOS series examines how objects define people’s perception of the world and function as the building blocks of their own value system. When the human-object relationship is disrupted, chaos ensues. What better conditions for art to intervene? 

“People seem to fear art. Art has always been a word for this thing that can’t be rationalized; when you see or hear something that you struggle to explain,” Fischer says, “But that’s its strength, of course, that’s what the word ‘art’ is for.” According to the artist, the egg in CHAOS #1 Human symbolizes new beginnings and the lighter represents humankind’s most important discovery, fire. Using this frame of reference, the egg could also be seen as digital assets. NFTs may be a baptism of fire for the art world, but no one ever said creativity was easy.  

Image Credit: Urs Fischer

Comment highlights MT21

Cherwell Comment
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Comment highlights MT21

‘Impossible to choose’

Leah Mitchell

We’ve had so many great articles this term that I found it impossible to choose just one! My particular highlights were Iseult de Mallet Burgess’ piece ‘Gender Abolition: Why it matters’, Isobel Lewis’ article ‘Pitch: 1, Parliament: 0’, Bethan Draycott’s article ‘Oxford University and the alienation of working students’, and Ish Duncan’s piece ‘THE NAME GAME – A Personal Reflection on the ‘Transtrenderism’ Trend’. All four pieces combined great writing, original thought, and a unique voice behind the article; some were bravely personal, others acerbic and witty. Together I think they sum up the best aspects of student journalism.

‘A privilege’

Antonio Pattori

Editing Cherwell’s Comment Section has been a privilege, made such by the great talent of the student journalists who write for us. A piece which struck me was Ciara Garcha’s This is England: Football and the Nation, which assessed the intrinsic social links between support for the national football team and nationalism. Ciara carefully traced the origins of this ‘disease’ back to the 1970s and 1980s, with tragic events such as the Heysel disaster. The article intelligently differentiated between the intentions of Southgate’s ‘embracement of diversity’ at the head of the national team, but recognised a failure to ‘map onto society at large’, as revealed by the racist events after the Euro 2021 final. In the process, Ciara Garcha powerfully juxtaposes ideals of Englishness with their corresponding realities, proving that such an ideal is simply too ‘far removed from reality’. 

‘Incredible articles’

Daisy Aitchison

Of all the incredible articles we’ve had this term, I have two comment highlights – Ciara Garcha’s piece which was published in our MT21 first week edition, and Isobel Lewis’ article from third week. Ciara’s argument was both powerful and eye-opening – I had no idea of the extent of the efforts being made to find a ‘cure’ for autism, and the support these attempts have from a whole host of celebrities in the UK. The personal nature of the piece just added to the impact, especially her point that autism is a part of identity in exactly the same way as features such as eye colour. Isobel’s article managed to be both hilarious and serious at the same time – exposing the failures of our politicians in a light hearted manner. My only complaint was that she reminded me of THAT video of Matt Hancock!

‘Passionate pieces’

Vera Prokopieva

In the comment section, we receive a wide variety of passionate pieces and through editing them I not only engaged with issues outside of my immediate interests, but I found connections with another student writers.  I enjoyed reading and editing ‘The Problem with Criminal Biopics’ by Olanrewaju Ajidagba because of its captivating argumentative narrative style. The piece looks at the problematic glorification of criminals in popular culture by opening with a deconstruction of the notorious Pablo Escobar and discusses the current issues surrounding Nigerian fraudster and influencer, ‘hushpuppi’.  This article was also a great reminder of the wealth of international connections among our student body, which the comment section frequently showcases.

Image Credits: Billy Wilson, Ted Eytan, Mia Clement, Kylie MacFarquharson, Pxfuel, irish-adam

Buy One, Give One Free: Oxbridge competition to donate to food banks

Matilda Gettins
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Buy One, Give One Free: Oxbridge competition to donate to food banks

The food charity ‘Because We Can’ is running a food bank collection competition between Oxford and Cambridge University, ending on November 30th. Under the title ‘Buy One, Give One Free!’ (BOGOF), they are encouraging students to buy and donate items needed by local food banks.

The BOGOF campaign is based on a simple principle: whenever students buy an item of food for their own use, they are invited to also buy an item needed by their local food bank. The items are collected by each college. The total sum collected by each Oxbridge college, and by Oxford and Cambridge Universities as a whole, are updated every other day on social media.

As of November 26th, Cambridge is ahead of Oxford by just over 100 items, having collected a total of 1334 items. In terms of colleges, Somerville college – who recently also scored first in a ranking on college climate policy – is in the lead in Oxford, with a total of 268 items collected. This friendly competition between colleges and between Oxford and Cambridge is hoped to spur action towards giving more. 

Because We Can (BWC) ran the BOGOF campaign for the first time last year. A total of 23 colleges took part across Oxford and Cambridge, and over 10,000 items were collected. In Oxford, Keble collected the most items, and in Cambridge, Clare College topped the competition. This year, 36 colleges will be taking place, and the organisers hope to expand their target. In a facebook post, the organisers write: “#BOGOF2 Double The Food”.

BWC is composed of an over 40 head student volunteer team of college reps across Oxbridge JCRS, who commit around 18 hours a week during the competition. BWC’s founder is Oxford alumni Josh Tulloch, former JCR President, who has experienced homelessness and food insecurity. According to a BWC press release, these personal hardships helped spur Josh into action. 

Since 2015, food bank usage in the UK has increased by 123%, with 2.5 million emergency food parcels distributed in 2020 alone, with 900,000+ of them going to children. The pandemic has made the problem more severe: food insecurity in the UK rose by 18% in 2020,  and the number of emergency food parcels distributed increased by 600,000 compared to the pre- pandemic period. It is expected that supply chain disruptions, rising inflation and universal credit cuts will put further strain on the problem.

BWC are supporting Cambridge City Foodbank & Oxford Food Hub. These foodbanks, in turn, support hundreds of families in their local areas.

BWC said: “We were absolutely floored by the success of last year, and the pandemic has made the problem of food poverty so much worse, that it was an obvious choice to do it again. We’re hoping that this becomes a permanent fixture on the Varsity calendar.”

Image: Because We Can

Alice in Wonderland themed campaign launched to support Oxford local businesses

Meg Lintern
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Alice in Wonderland themed campaign launched to support Oxford local businesses

In the run-up to Christmas, Alice from Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland will be appearing on the streets of Oxford as part of a City Council campaign. The campaign, launched on November 15th, aims to encourage shoppers to return to the streets and support independent businesses. 

The six-week project is designed to showcase the city as a hub of tourist activities, from shopping to fine-dining, in a bid to increase visitors during the festive season. 

The high volume of independent businesses and small boutiques in the city centre are expected to profit from the campaign, which is hoped to increase footfall during a crucial month. 

In November of 2019, a similar campaign was launched. The Council filled the Covered Market with sculptures of the White Rabbit, Gryphon, Mock Turtle, Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar and Dormouse, all of which were taken from Carrol’s novel. 

Lewis Caroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland studied at Christchurch and composed his famous novel whilst living in Oxford. Carrol’s characters have long been used to bring magic to the city. Now, the Covered Market is once again decorated with fantastical figurines. 

Between 2019 and 2021, the Covid-19 virus stunted many celebrations. The restrictions on in-person shopping have had severe impacts on the independent shops that rely on tourism and holiday trade.

Oxford City Councillor Susan Brown told the Oxford Mail: “The pandemic has seen a big reduction in the number of international visitors to our city and we are keen to continue to support businesses across our city to recover. Oxford is particularly magical at this time of year and I would encourage everyone to enjoy our city and remember to support the local businesses that make it so vibrant when planning your Christmas shopping and entertainment.” 

Funded by the Government’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund, established to support businesses at a crucial time of year, the campaign will feature a range of interactive elements to encourage shopping locally. These will include digital adverts on county-wide bus shelters and on-board Thames Travel buses in the south of Oxfordshire, as well as posters in local media including the Oxford Mail. 

Extensive content filmed by Independent Oxford and Fortitude Communication will highlight the broad range of entertainment the city has to offer, from the independent businesses of the Covered Market to the attractions of Westgate. All businesses will be encouraged to promote the campaign by tagging #VisitOxford on their social media channels.

The event will be further promoted by the Oxford Mail, with editor Pete Gavan emphasising the need for the Oxford community to rally around its local businesses after a very challenging year and a half. Other partners will be collaborating with the Council to deliver a multi-channel marketing campaign in the hopes that tourists from both inside and outside Oxfordshire will choose to do their Christmas shopping in the city.

An abundance of other activities are running parallel to the Wonderland theme to encourage even more interest. The Robin Hood pantomime, Christmas Arts Market, Christmas Carols, and Narnia Story Walk are just a few features in a line-up sure to get Oxford’s streets buzzing with festivity. 

The campaign is intended to reach students, locals, and tourists. The City Council seems hopeful that Alice in Wonderland will be able help make the Christmas season truly “magical” for its independent businesses. 

Image credit: Meg Lintern

Oxford University and the alienation of working students

Bethan Draycott
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Oxford University and the alienation of working students

The cliché goes that working in customer service will teach you a lot about people. The key thing I’ve noticed is that a few lines in the sand will define who you are and who you can be. At Oxford University, this set of lines is everything. Not just that, but the bar of privilege is so highly raised here that being ‘average’, or even above average, seems to translate into disadvantage.

It’s hardly original to accuse Oxford of being disproportionately tailored to the most privileged in our society – private school students, white students, cishet students. That is pretty much the first thing people will rush to tell you when you apply here. In recent years, Oxford has theoretically diversified its intake (whether sufficiently or not is pretty controversial): but is the system that’s in place actually equipped to support this apparently changing demographic of students?

One of the many, and potentially more subtle, inequalities in privilege we encounter here is the divide between those students who have to maintain jobs to support themselves financially, either during term time or in the holidays, and those who don’t (a divide which admittedly sounds relatively banal compared to the reputation of -isms and -phobias that Oxford already boasts, but is real nonetheless).

Students working jobs is not something out of the ordinary anywhere else, and most working- and middle-class students must take on a part-time job at some point. As a bottom line, having a job as a student should not be a problem, and is much less of a problem at most other universities that do not adhere to our term structure. So why is it so hard to handle here?

The University website states that no student may exceed 20 hours of paid work per week. We are also told that a minimum of 40 hours of our week must be dedicated to academic study. On top of this, we are  encouraged to take on extracurricular activities, internships, and leadership roles within our colleges, as well as attending formal events and of course our actual teaching hours, which for me amounted to 16 hours per week in first year.

Let’s be utopian for a moment and suppose that we survive all of this and somehow also manage to eat three meals a day and sleep eight hours a night. Even if this was sustainable, the national minimum wage for 18-20 year olds is £6.56 per hour. So working for this at maximum capacity during term time, according to University rules, you could earn £131.20 per week. According to the University website, living costs at Oxford vary between £14,100 and £20,520 for 12 months, so between £271.15 and £394.62 weekly on average. Thus, the maximum amount of working hours permitted would not be financially viable for a student who has to support themselves on a minimum wage job. 

In my experience, owing to the structure of the intense eight-week Oxford terms, students that need to make money have two options: either to find a late-night job in something like a nightclub and accept that they will never sleep, watching from one side of the bar while the rest of their cohort enjoy themselves on the other side, or to work extra time in the holidays. Having done both, I would suggest that neither is going to give you a great relationship with your degree, or with anything else for that matter. There is also an underestimated disconnect between university life (and the social expectations that come with that), and the atmosphere and demands of the working world.  Working a job during university, it’s easy to become dissociated from both: always slightly excluded from the freedoms of non-working students, but never able to fully relate to the lives of coworkers. A sticky, vodka-soaked bar becomes symbolic of a line we always feel like we’re on the wrong side of. 

For a student obligated to earn that cannot during term time, the amount they have to work during the holidays to compensate for not earning for eight weeks at a time (supposing that, according to the National Minimum Wage and Oxford’s 20 hours a week policy, they have lost at least £1049.60 per term) inevitably amounts to burnout. They also have less time to pursue internships and unpaid opportunities for their CV, less time to socialise, and less time to do pre-reading or revision for their degree. Not to mention the feeling of isolation, scrolling through festival posts and holiday pictures in between shifts, knowing that if you work overtime you might almost get out of overdraft by the time term begins. This is before even acknowledging that working full-time in most manual labour or so-called ‘low skilled’ jobs requires an enormous amount of physical exertion that can lead to long-term health issues that are constantly undermined by those who have not experienced them. Being unable to evenly distribute manual work and academic study at Oxford is fundamentally incompatible with functioning mental and physical health. 

Thus, the structure of the term means that even outside of Oxford term time, working students are placed at a disadvantage when they do return to read for their subjects, already behind academically and burnt out during a period when they are expected to rest and revise. 

So, as much as Oxford can claim inclusivity by extending and diversifying their intake, what good is half-hearted representation if you cannot take care of these students or allow them to take care of themselves? If you change the type of students at the University, but maintain the system of education that was devised specifically for the most privileged in society, all you are doing is propagating these disadvantages in an altered setting.

This also doesn’t just apply to those from traditional working-class backgrounds. Regardless of their household income, many students simply cannot rely on their families for financial help. Considering that student loans are based on the parents’ earnings, without consideration of actual disposable income, even the students eligible only for minimum student loan may not have access to financial support from their families. Studies have also shown that financial manipulation is a primary mode of control for an abusive parent. Not just that, but regardless of the student loan someone is entitled to, the anxiety surrounding paying it off is, for many, enough to force them to find extra money. Fundamentally, there are so many reasons why a student may choose to supplement their finances with a job which can’t always be inferred. By disfiguring this element of choice, Oxford is not just excluding the disadvantaged, but solely catering for the extremes of privilege. Change is required for the structure of teaching to be ever truly accessible. 

Something we also commonly hear is that Oxford students shouldn’t have to work during term-time because they can get hardship funding from their college. While there are a few options available (some more useful than others), this doesn’t acknowledge some of the glaring holes in Oxford welfare that might make students unwilling to approach them, given that pursuing hardship grants usually requires a certain level of personal disclosure that many would not be comfortable with, given the staff in question. Many students also do not feel that they qualify for ‘hardship’ for the reasons stated above. For many, working is a way of securing a necessary financial independence, something which should not be held from us as autonomous adults. Furthermore, hardship funds are often offered in the form of loans which must be paid back the following term, an assumption being made that the student will be able to return home and find a way to pay it back. This kind of blanket approach to funding is just another aspect of Oxford’s frankly ignorant attitude towards less advantaged students. 

The purpose of this article is not only to help students who can relate feel less alone, and not at all out of bitterness towards those who can’t, but to insist that we review Oxford’s traditional system of teaching and expectations of students. Oxford must either create allowances for those students who have to work, rather than punishing them, or restructure learning to be more flexible. It must also provide specialised welfare and more financial support. Changing the student intake doesn’t actually fix the problem; we are being invited into a system that was not made for us. And to those who tell us that being within Oxford is an opportunity to exploit the system positively, consider that it becomes impossible to take advantage of an institution when you barely have time in a day to breathe. Many people will rush to pat you on the head and say that it will be worth it, because in the long term you will gain opportunities as a member of  Oxford’s prestigious alumni, but if that means years of burnout, alienation, and long-term issues for some and not others, then that can never equate to accessibility or equality.

Image Credit: Billy Wilson / CC BY-NC 2.0

New College tortoise, ‘Tessa’, actually male

Eva Bailey
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New College tortoise, ‘Tessa’, actually male

After an eventful trip to the vet, it was discovered by New College students that Tessa the tortoise is in fact male. 

Not only that, but he is anywhere up to 40 years older than the students initially thought. 

Tessa the tortoise was gifted to New College in 2013, at which point it was assumed that the tortoise was an 18 month old female. 

Tortoises are a common pet for Oxford Colleges, with Corpus Christi holding an annual Tortoise Race in Trinity Term. 

It is notoriously difficult to tell the difference between male and female tortoises until they are mature. Even then, the characteristics of each sex can be difficult to distinguish. 

However, students at the college have been left wondering how Tessa’s age and sex were both wrongly determined. 

As a result of this revelation, Tessa will experience change to his care, which is administered by students on a rota basis.  

This includes no longer adding Calci-Dust to the tortoise’s food, as he is a mature tortoise who is unlikely to grow anymore. 

Tessa will also now have wildflowers and weeds integrated into his diet.

After discussions with Tessa’s original owner, it was decided that Tessa should retain his given name. 

The vet’s trip that caused this revelation also revealed, thankfully, that Tessa is fit and healthy. Perhaps we will even see him competing in the Tortoise Race next year!

Image: @newcollegetortoise via Instagram. Used with the permission of the page’s owner.

Michael-Akolade Ayodeji elected President of the Oxford Union, Connect slate wins all other major positions

Pieter Garicano
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Michael-Akolade Ayodeji elected President of the Oxford Union, Connect slate wins all other major positions

Michael-Akolade Ayodeji of the INSPIRE slate has been elected President of the Oxford Union for Trinity 2022, winning 486 first preferences and 52% of the vote. Ayodeji was the Librarian of the Oxford Union in Michaelmas 2021. The results were announced in the early hours of Saturday morning, as a return to physical ballots increased the challenge that the Returning Officers faced. Candidates on the ground told Cherwell that the mood was tense but excited, as they and members prepared to hear the results of the election. 1039 votes were cast, compared to 819 in the online election the term before.

The three other officerships were won by the following candidates:

Librarian: Charlie Mackintosh (CONNECT) with 460 first preferences

Treasurer: Naman Gupta (CONNECT) with 434 first preferences

Secretary: Anjali Ramanathan (CONNECT) with 502 first preferences

The results were a victory for the CONNECT slate, although their presidential candidate Ambika Seghal lost her race. The election itself was a rarity, with the presidency being contested by the librarian in Michaelmas term and a member of the Standing Committee. Anvee Bhutani, president of the Student Union, stood for Secretary’s Committee for Michael-Akolade’s slate.

Those elected to Standing Committee are: 

Jacobus Petersen (CONNECT) with 101 first preferences

Josh Chima with 108 first preferences

Larissa Koerber (CONNECT) with 131 first preferences

Daniel Dipper (INSPIRE) with 133 first preferences

Alex Fish (RESILIENCE) with 209 first preferences

Those elected to Secretary’s Committee, in ascending order, are:

Nicole Reid (CONNECT), Anvee Bhutani (INSPIRE), Matthew Dick (CONNECT), Disha Hegde (INSPIRE), Lukas Seifert (CONNECT), Jana Everett, Alex Garcia (INSPIRE), Victor Lamotte (CONNECT), Emma Zinkin (RESILIENCE), Jenny Grehan-Bradley (RESILIENCE) and Justin Hayto

Image Credit: Nato on flickr.com

This article was corrected at 9:17:58AM, November 27th to reflect that Josh Chima is not a an official member of the INSPIRE slate due to an administrative technicality.

This article was corrected at 18:33:45PM, November 28th to reflect that the Secretary’s Committee members are elected in ascending, not descending, order.

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