Kasselouri-Hatzivasiliadi Eleni, Feminist Hermeneutics. The “Gender” Factor in Modern Biblical Hermeneutics, Thessaloniki: Pournaras Press, 2003, pages 175.
This book is an introduction to feminist hermeneutics, which is a special sector of feminist theology and aims to present the factors that led to the thematization of gender as a particular perspective and interpretation of the biblical sources of Christianity.
In the Introduction the writer examines concisely the concept of interpretation and hermeneutics as a special branch of the biblical science and, next, the emergence, during the last three decades, of the “gender” factor in modern social anthropology, the science of religion, theology and, finally, in the hermeneutics of the written texts of Christianity.
In the first chapter the object of discussion is the birth and evolution of feminist hermeneutics. Initially, the author talks about the contribution of the modern methods: the historical-critical, morphohistorical and the method of the final compilation and edition of texts, while there is special reference to Woman’s Bible by Candy Stanton, published in 1885. There is also mention of the stages of development of feminist theology and hermeneutics during the 20th cent. and the problem of the sexist and patriarchal character of the language itself in the texts of tradition is located. Feminist hermeneutics is neither of one sort nor monolithic, as the writer presents the different trends, developed within it (the radical one, with Mary Daly as its main representative and the revisionary ones with Rosemary Radford Ruether, Letty Russel, Phylis Trible, E. Schuessler-Fiorenza as their representatives). After the preceding historical information, the chapter ends with the underlining of the importance and dynamics that feminist hermeneutics introduces to modern theological research.
In the second chapter feminist hermeneutics correlates with other approaches, which have caused a “change of example” in modern interpretation, and specifically with contextual interpretation, the theology of deliverance, the criticism of the reader’s response, the rhetorical and narrative analysis, the sociological interpretation of the texts and the various trends that developed in the frames of social and cultural anthropology, as well as psychoanalysis.
In the third chapter there is an attempt of a dialogue of feminist hermeneutics, which developed in the West and in western Christian confessions, with the Orthodox theology of the East. The views of prominent Orthodox theologians on woman and feminist theology are presented (Elizabeth Behr-Sigel, Deborah Belonick, Kyriaki Karidoyiannes-FitzGerald, Eva Katafygiotou-Topping), there is mention of the organization of Orthodox conventions, the edition of journals and the writing of relevant studies. Next, the author focuses on the introduction of the “gender” factor in the Orthodox biblical hermeneutics by younger Orthodox theologians (Veselin Kesich, Evanthia Adamtziloglou, Savvas Agouridis, Ivan Z. Dimitrov, I. Karavidopoulos).
Concluding on the issue of the dialogue of feminist hermeneutics with Orthodox theology, the writer considers that this dialogue can be based only on the starting principles of the Orthodox faith, that is on the Church as Eucharistic body of equality, brotherhood, freedom and reconciliation, of men and women, eschatologically oriented towards the new world, inaugurated by Christ within History. Self-criticism and penitence are the prerequisites-also from the Orthodox side-of this new world of the Kingdom of God.