Satanic feminism: Lucifer as the liberator of woman in nineteenth-century culture
| Published in: | Molin & Sorgenfrei Akademiska |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subito Delivery Service: | Order now. |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Stockholm
Molin & Sorgenfrei
2014
|
| In: |
Molin & Sorgenfrei Akademiska (4)
|
| Series/Journal: | Molin & Sorgenfrei Akademiska
4 |
| Further subjects: | B
Satanism
history
B Satanisme i litteraturen B Thesis B Feminism history |
| Item Description: | According to the Bible, Eve was the first to heed Satan's advice to eat of the forbidden fruit. The notion of woman as the Devil's accomplice is prominent throughout the history of Christianity. During the nineteenth century, rebellious females performed counter-readings of this misogynist tradition. Hereby, Lucifer was reconceptualised as a feminist liberator of womankind, and Eve became a heroine. In these reimaginings, Satan is an ally in the struggle against a patriarchy supported by God the Father and his male priests. This study delineates how such Satanic feminism is expressed in a number of nineteenth-century esoteric works, literary texts, autobiographies, pamphlets and journals, newspaper articles, paintings, sculptures and even artefacts of consumer culture such as jewellery. In the material, four motifs in particular are prominent: 1) interpretations of Eve's role in the fall of man as something positive, 2) the witch as a proto-feminist figure, 3) the demon lover as an emancipator, 4) a feminised Satan contrasted with an oppressive male God. A fifth and less central motif is conceptions of Lilith, according to Jewish lore the unruly first wife of Adam, as the first feminist. The analysis focuses on interfaces between esotericism and the political realm, as well as the interdependence of literature and the occult. New light is thus shed on neglected aspects of the intellectual history of feminism, Satanism and revisionary mythmaking. The study is informed by theories concerning counter-readings, counter-discourses and counter-myths, and in particular highlights the complex interplay of such phenomena and the hegemonic discourses that demonised feminism. A key theme in this context is the limits and paradoxes of inversion as a subversive strategy |
|---|---|
| ISBN: | 9187515040 |