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Dissertation Information for Chris Klassen

NAME:
- Chris Klassen

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Women's Studies

SCHOOL:
- York University (USA) (2006)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Jane Couchman
- Becky Lee
- Cate Sandilands

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected

Title: Storied selves: Technologies of identity in feminist witchcraft

Abstract: This dissertation focusses on feminist Witches and their constructions of identities through the use of opposition and speculation as technologies of identity, particularly (post)colonial, maternal and holistic identities. Through these identity formations, feminist Witches are invested in changing consciousness to create a just and sustainable world, an act which is fundamental to their practices of magic. Looking at three novels---Barbara Walker's Amazon, Cynthia Lamb's Brigid's Charge and Starhawk's The Fifth Sacred Thing ---as locations to interrogate this use of technologies of identity, I ask three questions: (1) How are technologies of identity deployed? (2) Where are feminist Witches most successful in promoting and/or creating models for a just and sustainable world? (3) Where and how can feminist Witches push these technologies of identity even further to create continuing oppositional and speculative identities which could lead to a just and sustainable world?

Feminist Witches construct (post)colonial identities through their interpretations of the history of Western societies. I conclude that while there is a troublesome use of the technology of opposition which constructs/maintains dualisms in the feminist Witchen construction of (post)colonial identity, there are also moments when opposition is integrated with a technology of speculation, which allows feminist Witches to envision something new beyond the known patriarchal dualistic categories.

In the exploration of maternal identity, I interrogate the characteristics associated with mothering, and often by extension femaleness, and show how feminist Witches both deploy essentialist notions of motherhood/femaleness and resist these very constructions. I also question the tendency toward monotheistic understandings of deity in the image of the Mother Goddess. While developing strong maternal imagery for both deity and human can be beneficial for women, only when this is one of a number of possible images of creativity and femaleness does maternal identity contribute to creating a just and caring world.

Finally, I explore how feminist Witches construct holistic identity based on the immanence of the Goddess. This holism posits the natural world, including humans, as sacred. However, mechanistic technology is largely understood by feminist Witches as negative. I conclude that a more inclusive holism, which recognises all of human and non-human activity as potential source for good even as it is also potential source for harm, would allow feminist Witches more success in evaluating which activities are useful for creating a world which offers all beings justice and allows for sustainable living.

The novels addressed in this dissertation are not just stories; they embody components of a feminist Witchen ritual worldview. By constructing, consuming and interpreting these speculative stories, feminist Witches gain ritual knowledge which can shape their beliefs and practices.

MPACT Scores for Chris Klassen

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-04-21 02:31:24

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