عنوان

Violent love, oppressive liberation: Reading Mary in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke alongside surrogate Indian mothers

T555

انگلیسی

Violent love, oppressive liberation: Reading Mary in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke alongside surrogate Indian mothers

[Thesis]

;supervisor:Moore, Stephen D.

Drew University: United States -- New Jersey

: 2013

261 Pages

Ph.D.

On the surface, the contextual body of the Indian surrogate and the textual body of Mary may appear unrelated. There are, however, many similarities between the two. To name a few, both conceive without the physical presence of a male; their conception takes place only after their consent; they are impregnated by a third party who hails from a superior realm; and, finally, their willingness to participate in an anomalous birth is driven by their desire to better the situation of their people or their families. Thus, when these two partial subjects are placed alongside each other, a more complex picture of choice emerges. Resisting traditional interpretations of Mary, I read her textual body as a site of contradiction fluctuating between the poles of violence and love, constructing her motherhood as performative of a violent love that, in the end, leaves her in ambiguity and uncertainty, a symbol of oppressive liberation: she is never fully freed nor yet fully enslaved. My approach is interdisciplinary in that it is informed by intersecting theories of race, empire, and nation, along with the "real life" experiences of the Indian surrogate mothers. These lenses, when applied to the textual character of Mary in the New Testament infancy narratives, enable me to reproduce a Mary that is not only relevant to the lives of modern Indian women, but also brings to light her contradictions and her ambiguity as a "victimized hero." At the same time, Mary's choice to become a mother for the other captures the complexity of living in a globalizing economy, where choice promises a conditional freedom. Thus, by highlighting the ambiguity in which the Indian surrogate mother living in a postcolonial India stands, I am also highlighting the effects of globalization on the bodies of Indian women.

Biblical studies

Womens studies

Gender studies

Philosophy

religion and theology

Social sciences

Mary

Blessed Virgin

Saint

Surrogacy

Infancy narratives

Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Luke

Jacob, Sharon

Moore, Stephen D, supervisor

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