Her Blue Body
A Pagan Reading of Alice Walker Womanism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14948735 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Arisika Razak (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 92-116 |
| Publication date | 2009-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Feminist Theology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0966-7350 • E-ISSN: 1745-5189 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0966735009105874 |
| OpenAlex | W2160961684 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 9 |
This essay explores the earth-based woman-centered paganism found in Alice Walker's womanist writings. It argues that Walker's visionary landscape is influenced by indigenous spirituality and woman-centered Goddess beliefs which place humans in a sacred web of life that includes plants, animals, elemental forces, the earth, the cosmos, and the living and the dead. In this landscape, humans are not stewards of creation, but members of the whole. A review of several of her visionary novels— including The Temple of My Familiar, By the Light of My Father's Smile and The Color Purple—suggest that Walker links women's erotic freedom, social and cultural liberation, and sexual and spiritual redemption. She rejects dualistic notions which oppose spirituality and sexuality, and through characters who embody transgressive sexuality, she suggests that a fully enjoyed and empowered female sexuality is a gateway to the perception of the divine as well as a path to healing, self-love and authenticity. A self-declared pagan, her holistic framework integrates the personal, sexual, spiritual, and cosmic with the needs of the earth and all sentient life
Aesthetics · Art · Human sexuality · Indigenous · Sexual desire · Sociology · Spirituality · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Gender Studies · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Ecology
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,29 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2021 (10) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |