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Department of the Study of Religions

Readings in French Feminism and Religion

Course Code:
15PSRH023
Status:
Course Not Running 2012/13
Unit value:
0.5
Year of study:
Any
Since the late 1980s, French feminist thought, particularly as represented by Luce Irigaray, Hélène Cixous, Catherine Clément, Julia Kristeva, and Monique Wittig, has emerged as an increasingly important hermeneutic tool in the gender-critical study of religions. Within the sphere of religious or theological studies, French feminist thought offers trenchant critiques of the role and status of religion, particularly as understood in the Jewish and Christian traditions.

Informed by the interpretive and intellectual strategies of poststructural philosophy, each thinker, to varying degrees, mobilises religious symbols, narratives, and structures in order simultaneously to critique and to reimagine the place of religion in the lives of women and men. This may mean a revolutionary reassessment of traditional religious figures and a thoughtful re-appraisal of standard philosophies of religion, or a more radical process of re-imaging and re-visioning religious discourse or, even, of inventing divinity anew.

The aim of this course, therefore, is to survey some of the most significant and provocative applications of French feminist theory to questions of religion, theology, and ethics. The course will proceed by examining each thinker’s oeuvre in detail before moving to examine critically their diverse writings on religious themes.

Furthermore the course will consider the extent to which their contributions challenge or reformulate the epistemological grounds of the study of religions.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the course

At completion of the course students will:

  • Have acquired a comprehensive understanding of the content and context of French feminist theory;
  • Have gained knowledge of the variety of methodologies and perspectives that French feminist theories offer the student of religions;
  • Have reflected on the relevance of these to her or his areas of interest;
  • Be able to critically evaluate a variety of books, journals and other sources of information relevant to the topics studied on the course;
  • have produced and presented a detailed research paper on an area relevant to the study of French feminism and the study of religions.

Method of assessment

Coursework: one 5,000 word essay. Assessment: essay 100%.