Postcolonialism, Feminism and Religious Discourse

230 Pages·2001·8.918 MB·English

by  Kwok Pui-Lan (editor), Laura E. Donaldson (editor)

Postcolonialism, Feminism, and Religious Discourse
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First published in Great Britain 2002 by Routledge
Published 2015 by Routledge
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711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 2002 by Taylor & Francis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
“Multiple Critique: Islamic Feminist Rhetorical Strategies” by Miriam Cooke originally
published in Nepantla, 1:1 (2000), pp. 91-110. Copyright 2000, Duke University Press.
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
A version of “Body, Representation, and Black Religious Discourse” by M. Shawn
Copeland appears as “The Wounds of Jesus, the Wounds of My People” in Telling the
Truth: Preaching against Sexual and Domestic Violence, ed. John S. McClure and Nancy J.
Ramsey (Cleveland: United Church Press, 1998). Used by permission.
Portions of “Sartorial Fabric-ations: Enlightenment and Western Feminism” adapted from
Colonial Fantasies: Towards a Feminist Reading of Orientalism by Meyda Yeğenoğlu (Cam­
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998). Reprinted with the permission of Cambridge
University Press.
“Captivity” in Jacklight by Louise Erdrich, © 1984 by Louise Erdrich. Reprinted by per­
mission of Henry Holt and Company.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Postcolonialism, feminism and religious discourse / edited by Laura E. Donaldson and
Kwok Pui-lan.
p. cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-92887-7 —ISBN 0-415-92888-5 (pbk.)
1. Women and religion. 2. Feminism—Religious aspects. 3. Postcolonialism.
I. Donaldson, Laura E. II. Kwok Pui-lan.
BL458 .P67 2001
200'.82—dc21 00-062815
ISBN 978-1-315-02327-4 (eISBN)
Contents
Ac kno w l edg ment s ix
Int r o duc t io n 1
Part One: Challenging Feminist Religious Discourse
1. The Breasts of Columbus: A Political Anatomy of
Postcolonialism and Feminist Religious Discourse 41
Laura E. Donaldson
2. Unbinding Our Feet: Saving Brown Women and
Feminist Religious Discourse 62
Kwok Pui-lan
3. Sartorial Fabric-ations: Enlightenment and Western
Feminism 82
Meyda Yegenoglu
4. Postcoloniality, Feminist Spaces,
and Religion 100
Musa W. Dube
V
vi ♦ Contents
Part Two: Rethinking Texts and Traditions
5. The Prostitutes Gold: Women, Religion, and Sanskrit
in One Corner of India 123
Laurie L. Patton
6. Multiple Critique: Islamic Feminist Rhetorical Strategies 142
Miriam Cooke
7. Letting Go of Liberalism: Feminism and the
Emancipation of the Jews 161
Laura Levitt
8. Body, Representation, and Black Religious Discourse 180
M. Shawn Copeland
Sel ect ed Bibl iography 199
Co n t r ibu t o r s 213
Index 215
In loving memory of our fathers,
fames Carmichael Donaldson
and
Kwok Kut
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Acknowledgments
Any book represents the combined effort of many people: the authors, the
editors, the production staff, and all those whose scholarly work have
informed our perspectives. In this vein, we would like to thank the Women
and Religion Section and the Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection
Group of the American Academy of Religion for sponsoring the panel from
which the idea for this anthology was engendered, as well as the many col-
leagues who have encouraged us along the way. Special appreciation goes to
the Episcopal Divinity School for support from the Theological Writing
Fund. Our research assistants, Anna Greenwood, Thomas Eoyang, and Wes-
ley Kisting, provided critical help in preparing the manuscripts.
We are grateful to the editors and staff at Routledge, William P. Germano,
Mathew Byrnie, Damian Treffs, and Henry Bashwiner, for their helpful com-
ments and for shepherding the manuscripts at various stages of production.
We thank Gretchen Grimshaw for her help in proofreading.
We would also like to thank our families for their patient cooperation in
this effort. Laura thanks Mike, whose humor, capacity for loving and flyfish-
ing acumen proved such an irrepressible combination. Pui-lan wants to thank
her family for their steadfast support for her scholarly pursuit, giving her time
and peace of mind to think and work.