There have been many feminist-liberation critiques of the traditional set of words to and for the divine. These critiques have included a concern about the influence of this set of words on behaviour and have called for change from the traditional words. This thesis presents a theoretically robust exploration of how words to and for the divine influence behaviour, analysing the set of words to and for the divine used in the authorised liturgical texts for Holy Communion in the Church of England. The significance of ideology is highlighted, since ideologies are both expressed and maintained in word use and since they promote social practices. Using a feminist-liberation methodology this thesis employs understandings of language processing taken both from psycholinguistics and from Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language to reveal what is present in the case study texts and to indicate how these words influence behaviour. It receives and adopts the contribution of feminist theology in highlighting dualistic structures of language use and the ways in which this enables influence from words to and for the divine to behaviour. Butler’s insights into our constitution in language is read through a model of communication, identity and relationships to show that words addressed to others as well as words addressed to oneself have capacity to constitute us into identities and relationships and so affect our behaviour. For Christians, words to and for the divine constitute us into identities and relationships, influencing our behaviour. Despite multiple barriers to change from the traditional set of words, this thesis proposes that change can come about through enabling congregations to understand how words function and through using new words to and for the divine to destabilise dominant and oppressive ideologies through exploiting their structural weaknesses. The hope of this thesis is that words to and for the divine can contribute to the flourishing of all humankind.
Date of Award | 2021 |
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Original language | English |
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Supervisor | Lisa Isherwood (Supervisor) & Anna King (Supervisor) |
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- Word
- Divine
- Behaviour
- Psycholinguistics
- Ideology
- Change
How do words to and for the divine influence our behaviour to each other? Can these words be changed to contribute to the flourishing of all humankind?
Metcalfe, M. (Author). 2021
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis