An " embodied " reading of John 15 by two women in the 14th and 20th centuries
(2023) FEMALE CORPOREALITY AND RELIGION 2023 — Location: KULeuven (1.June.2023)
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- Throughout the centuries, women have read the pericope of the vine and the branches in John’s gospel. They have read it with their being and their bodies as women. Does a woman, a mother, read a verse such as ‘abide in me and I in you’ (v. 4a) or ‘I appointed you, that you may go and bear fruit’ (v. 16a) the same way as a man? What impact does her bodily experience have on her reading of the text? In this paper, we will be approaching the question from the readings of John chapter 15 presented by two commentators of the Gospel: Catherine of Siena in the 14th century and Adrienne von Speyr in the 20th century. After a brief introduction explaining the choice of these authors and the pericope, we will first put Catherine of Siena and Adrienne von Speyr in their respective contexts. We will pay particular attention to the way in which they both consider their female bodies. In a second step, which constitute the main part of our paper, we focus on their way of reading and interpreting Jn 15:1-17 by noting what is related to the ‘body’. We see that these women do not focus so much on their own bodies, but rather on the image of the Church as a 'body'. This attention to ecclesial ‘corporeality’ in their commentaries on the pericope is indeed more developed among them than in the male authors who were their contemporaries. We ask ourselves the following question: did their female bodies influence this sensitivity to the Body of the Church and to the necessary care to be given to it? A care that may involve a very corporal involvement (prayer in tears, 'substitution' through corporal sacrifices for the life of the Church, etc.). In the final section, which serve as a conclusion, we look at their potential integration and recognition within this very ecclesial ‘body'.
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Draguet, F. (2023). An ” embodied ” reading of John 15 by two women in the 14th and 20th centuries. FEMALE CORPOREALITY AND RELIGION 2023, KULeuven. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/234115