The book brings the thought of Julia Kristeva to bear on the challenge of sexual differentiation in a world that both privileges difference yet continues to be threatened by otherness. In conversation with feminist theology and Christian ethics, it explores the role and the ramifications of being embodied subjects. The book utilizes Kristeva's thought to probe the roots of violence against women and how violence continues to shape humanity's psyche. Kristeva's contribution to feminist theology and Christian ethics emerges through a comparative analysis with leading feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether. Ruether probes more deeply than most the pervasive misogyny within the Christian tradition. While Kristeva exposes the deeply biological (and so determined) roots of violence against women, her insights provide the needed understanding that can shift the direction of our thought in addressing the threat of the other. The book considers how theology (via Ruether) rather than Kristeva offers the tools to guide us through this opening.

Contents

Acknowledgement

Forward

Introduction

1. The Feminist Theology of Rosemary Ruether and its Limitation

1. Introduction

2. Ruether's Feminist Theology

2.1 Ruether's Dialectical Methodology

2.2 Three Themes in Ruether's Work

2.2.1 The Image of Woman in the Church

2.2.2 The Nature and Condition of Evil : Implications for Women

2.2.3 Feminist Theological Reconstruction

2.3 Conclusion

3. Kristeva's Insight

4. Conclusion

2. The Trajectory of Kristeva's Thought

1. Introduction

2. Four Stages

2.1 First Stage: The Bulgaria-Paris Transition: 1966 to 1974

2.1.1 La revolution du langage poetique : An Introduction

2.1.2 Mikhail Bakhtin

2.1.3 Roland Barthes

2.1.4 Emile Benveniste

2.1.5 Georges Bataille

2.1.6 Ferdinand de Saussure

2.1.7 Jacques Lacan

2.1.8 Summary

2.2 Second Stage: The China Experience and Kristeva's Shift: 1974 to 1980

2.3 Third Stage: The Speaking Subject and the Human Psyche: Horror, Love, Melancholy

2.3.1 Powers of Horror

2.3.2 Tales of Love

2.3.3 Black Sun

2.3.4 Summary

2.4 Fourth Stage: "Psychoanalysts in Times of Distress" Dissident and Stranger; Exile and Healer

2.4.1 Strangers to Ourselves and Nations Without Nationalism

2.4.2 Novelistic Discourse

2.5 Conclusion

3. Critiques of Kristeva's Work

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Bi-polar Reactions

3.3 Moving Beyond the Bi-polar

4. Conclusion

3. Revolution in Poetic Language

1. Introduction

2. Revolution in Poetic Language

2.1 Preliminary Investigations

2.2 The Semiotic and the Symbolic

2.2.1 Kristeva's Expanded Sense of "Text"

2.3 Negativity

2.4 Heterogeneity

2.5 Practice

2.6 Conclusion

4. The Ramifications of Kristeva's Theory : Abjection and Ethics

1. Introduction

2. Powers of Horror: An Essay in Abjection

2.1 Analytic Theory

2.2 The History of Religions

2.3 Celine's Horror

3. Kristeva's Ethics: Ambiguous and Irreconcilable

3.1 Poetry as a Model for Ethics

3.2 Maternity as a Model for Ethics

3.3 Psychoanalysis as a Model for Ethics

4. Conclusion

5. A Comparative Analysis of Kristeva and Ruether

1. Introduction

2. Synopsis of Key Insights in the Thought of Julia Kristeva

2.1 Otherness, Totalitarianism and the Crisis of the Speaking Subject

2.2 The Body and Language: Kristeva's Dialectical Methodology

2.3 Language as Subversive and the Ethical Function of Practice

2.4 Ramifications of Kristeva's Insights for Feminist Theology and Christian Ethics

3. Key Concerns and Contributions of Ruether

4. Kristeva's Correctives and Contributions to Ruether

5. Ruether's Correctives and Contributions to Kristeva

Conclusion

Selected Bibliography

Works by Julia Kristeva

Secondary Literature About Kristeva

Related Works

Index of Subjects

Index of Authors

Christine Jamieson teaches Christian Ethics in the Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Her research draws on the work of Julia Kristeva and Canadian theologian and philosopher, Bernard Lonergan. Her doctoral work focused on social ethics and from that basis her research engages in ethical reflection on challenging 21st century issues such as stem cell research, end of life issues, genetic technology and values conflict in the healthcare setting. She is also engaged in interdisciplinary work with a biblical scholar exploring ethical deliberation in the Bible.