The myth of Sylvia Plath and its influence on contemporary indie-pop music

Abstract

The work will address Sylvia Plath as one of the major representatives of American confessional poetry. In the past, may articles have been published regarding the controversial mediatic process through which the figure of Plath has become a myth and a tragic symbol of girlhood, adolescence, and emotional pain. For this reason, pop culture and market have taken advantage of this tendency, and Sylvia Plath is, nowadays, more present in the arts and media that she was when she was alive. I will focus my work on this process of mythification of her figure and how it has influenced the musical landscape of the 21st century. Contemporary indie-pop singers and composers such as Lana del Rey, Lorde, Taylor Swift, or Mitski have mentioned, more than once, the influence confessional poetry has had on their music and lyrics. In fact, it is easy to grasp some similarities between these artists’ songs and Plath’s poetry, especially in the tone they use and the topics they deal with. My work will aim to explore, then, the relationship between these intimist artists and Sylvia Plath’s myth and legend, which is still influencing, almost 60 years after her death, the youngest generations