Difference and power in feminist theologies: "God's Fierce Whimsy" as dialogic challenge to theological method
by Busman, Christina Marie, Ph.D., PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 2012, 264 pages; 3515711

Abstract:

This dissertation is a presentation of a critical analysis of the multi-authored dialogic work, God's Fierce Whimsy. Therein, the dissertation uniquely challenges contemporary theologians to revise how they understand and do theology in light of difference and differential access to power in the context of historical and enduring systems of injustice. Each chapter attends to this argument in a unique way. The first chapter focuses on the historical location of the authoring of God's Fierce Whimsy by the Mud Flower Collective in the early 1980s. This chapter also identifies the dissertation author's methodological approach to an analysis of the text under consideration. The second chapter of this project, in a survey of theological literature, specifically assesses how God's Fierce Whimsy has been received and analyzed in other published works. The third chapter of this project entails a textual examination of God's Fierce Whimsy. Drawing on the work of Martin Buber and Mikhail Bakhtin, in this analysis signal dialogic characteristics of God's Fierce Whimsy are underscored and delineated. With this textual analysis in place, the fourth chapter of this dissertation is a presentation of the content of interviews conducted with the members of the collective. The purpose of these interviews is to gain perspective on how the various authors of God's Fierce Whimsy perceive their collaborative work over twenty-five years after it was published. With an emphasis on contextuality and pedagogy, the fifth chapter of this dissertation focuses on the implications and relevance of the method and content of God's Fierce Whimsy. Specific attention is give here to the importance of dialogue and story in light of recent developments in feminist theory and postcolonial thought.

 
AdviserMark Lewis Taylor
SchoolPRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
SourceDAI/A 73-10(E), p. , Jul 2012
Source TypeDissertation
SubjectsReligion; Women's studies; Communication; Theology
Publication Number3515711
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