Narrative Nuance
Inhabiting the Ruins of the Past: Willa Cather's "Death Comes for the Archbishop" and the Appropriation of Roman Catholicism View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kelly Van Andel
Often the religious space one is born into proves unwelcome or even hostile. As a result, one may seek to find spiritual meaning within the room or house or another faith. In a literary study of Willa Cather’s novel "Death Comes from the Archbishop," this paper first explores how Cather literally and metaphorically leaves patriarchal Protestantism and appropriates the Roman Catholicism practiced on the New Mexican frontier. Second, it considers how the novel serves as a religious space within which Cather fashions her own religious selfhood and identity. Third, it examines how the construction of her identity and narrative impinges on the individual and communal subjectivity of Native and Colonial New Mexicans and their descendants. Ultimately, the paper posits that movement from one religious space and narrative to another proves complex, and it prods the listener to consider how the religious space one occupies and the religious narratives one tells influences others, especially those outside of one’s own sacred space and narrative.
Biblical Narratives in the Handmaid’s Tale
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Bina Nir
In 1985, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published a dystopian novel that portrayed a terrifying vision in which the main character and narrator, Offred, explains the world in which she lives: Gilead, a totalitarian state controlled by a male military elite. The novel shows how religious and political extremism fuels social inequality, censorship, and the restriction of individual rights. An examination of the biblical narratives in the work offers a critical analysis of the role of religion and its politics in the formation of these cultural structures in the West. In this study, I examine the hermeneutic dimension of the Bible in the Handmaid’s Tale. Utilizing an exegetical, ethical-philosophical analysis that focuses on the role of religion and particularly the role of the biblical narrative – the foundational text of Western culture – as a source of patriarchy in the West for centuries, I reveal the biblical narratives on which the work is based. The woman as a handmaid is a central motif in the work; Atwood reminds us that we can find this motif of the woman as a handmaid also in the cultural tradition of the West based on the handmaids of the Bible. Exposing the origin of cultural narratives in the context of attitudes towards women in the history of the West contributes to our critical thinking regarding contemporary patterns of thought in Western culture in general and in Judaism in particular.
Fostering Community Cohesion: The Role of Recognition in Religious Discourse
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gerard Ryan
Religion plays a pivotal role in nurturing human unity through meaningful dialogue. However, the reality often reveals a more complex picture, as dialogues between individuals holding religious beliefs frequently become arenas of contention and allegations. A contemporary instance of this discord is evident within the Catholic Church, where a minority of cardinals and prominent lay members, particularly in North America, have exhibited resistance and suspended their support for Pope Francis's Synodal process. In such instances, rather than achieving cohesion, there is a palpable sense of dissonance. In recent years, Jürgen Habermas's concept of the "translational proviso" has emerged as an attempt to mitigate this dissonance and cultivate universal community cohesion by advocating for the neutralization of religious language. However, this paper contends that the contemporary imperative for community cohesion lies not in neutralization but in the recognition of others in a manner that dignifies their respective authority and experience. Within this framework, this paper situates the notion of recognition in the context of the prevalent experiences of eco-anxiety in modern society. For individuals with strong religious affiliations, eco-anxiety represents a deeply felt dissonance. To counteract this precarious erosion of communal bonds, the paper proposes elevating the role of religious communities as assemblies of "recognizers." In this capacity, these communities can mobilize their institutional resources and expertise to identify and address eco-anxiety effectively, reintegrating those who feel alienated and marginalized into the communal fabric in ways that build a sustainable future of hope.
