The Other Within
The Mysticism of Ordinary Life January 26, 2023 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192866967.003.0005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Irigaray and Kristeva engaged Christian mystical sources to theorize women's subjectivity and flourishing, and that contemporary Christian mystical theology has much to gain from a nuanced reception of their work, while also critiquing gender-essentialist and Eurocentric features of their political writings. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter clarifies how two major representatives of the postmodern philosophical discourse known as “French feminism” engage with Christian mystical sources to theorize the conditions of women’s subjectivity and flourishing. It traces the development of their ideas from the 1970s through the 2000s. It begins with Irigaray’s early account of women’s mystical ecstasy as a subversion of phallocentric metaphysics and Kristeva’s early association of mysticism with a maternal, semiotic eruption in the paternal, symbolic order. It then highlights mystical aspects of Irigaray’s creative interpretations of elemental nature and Christological, Mariological, and pneumatological grace and Kristeva’s theory of primary narcissism as the inner ground of hatred and love. It critiques certain gender-essentialist and Eurocentric features of their political writings. It explains the ways the practice of yoga influences Irigaray’s most recent works and the reasons why Teresa of Avila has become a focal point of Kristeva’s reflections. It concludes that contemporary Christian mystical theology has much to gain from a nuanced reception of these thinkers.