From: Leah Sheppard <sheppard-AT-pobox.upenn.edu>
Subject: Re: Kristeva's chora
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 17:35:12 -0500 (EST)


Judith,

I am *loving* this thread.  

I might suggest that at least the trend in Catholic feminist theology
is to reexamine early Christian notions of the Trinity at its formation
in the Nicene Creed.  I know, "Trinity, ick" is a reaction I get a lot,
but setting preconceived notions of it aside, the language in the
Trinitarian doctrine not only *breaks* "monarchical" conceptions of
God, but saying that God redeems through Jesus Christ in the Holy
Spirit-- that each are of the same divine substance but are unique
persons-- is a radical way of looking at order which is multiple,
but not anarchic, and sacred but not exclusively transcendental.
I think the trinitarian doctrine is the place where a theory
of radical equality in relationship takes form, based on the
Christian "economy of salvation."

Catherine Mowry LaCugna, in the anthology _Freeing Theology_ looks
at the modern social implications of the classically defined
Trinity, which she calls a "theology of personhood."  Turns out, 
I think, that Catholics have been teaching a very unitarian theology 
while keeping the original trinitarian language in the liturgy.  Oops.  
Makes sense though.  Monarchical conceptions of God lend themselves so 
much more readily to justify human monarchy and domination.  LaCugna's 
also got a book out (400 pages, not a light read) about the history of 
trinitarian thought and the radical implications that a restored reading 
of it has for our lives and relationships today.  The article is based 
on her book--_God For Us_.  I recommend it if you have the time.
It definitely changed the way I look at relationships and community
and certainly jives with the idea of a universal ecology.

:)
--LeaH
>  
> 
> On Fri, 14 Mar 1997, Charlotte Berkowitz wrote:
>  
> > Isn't it possible to have order that is _neither_ anarchic _nor_ derived
> > from transcendentals, but coherency that mirrors the complex ecology of the
> > universe? 

> "deep ecology," or "order" of the universe; that is, I still don't know 
> why that "order" isn't an-archic. I _do_ have a better sense of 
> what you're suggesting here, Charlotte, but there are still some points 
> that bother me. (And let me note, btw, that what I'm saying here has 
> nothing to do with any reading of Kristeva, whom I won't claim to know 
> well enough to have a sense of what her position would be. I'm only 
> responding to what you've said, including the bits you've attributed to 
> Kelly Oliver.)
> 
> First of all--and let me confess my relative ignorance on this point--I 
> was under the impression that most of the work being done on fractals is 
> in the area of chaos theory--which is to suggest that, perhaps, the 
> metaphor of the fractal might not support the point I take you to be 
> making about universal order? However, if what's at issue for you is that 
> the appearance of chaos conceals or mystifies a deep, underlying order, 
> then I'm still at a loss to see how that apparently chaotic order has 
> anything to tell us about how to order our lives. My earlier question to 
> you was in the context of the suggestion in your original post (a 
> suggestion which I didn't include above) that we might be able to "have 
> rules that encourage difference in a civil tongue." And, in light of what 
> you've said at this point, I still don't see what the basis for such "rules" 
> would be.
> 
> I want to make it clear that these are not meant to be provocations for 
> the sake of conflict. This is a crucial issue in my own work, which 
> has a lot to do with the possibility of deriving an ethics or a politics, 
> however understood, from a Deleuzean ontology of difference. So if I 
> press you on this, it's in order to see if together we can come up with 
> responses that will further both of our projects, however different their 
> foci might be.
> 
> Judith Poxon
> poxon-AT-saclink.csus.edu
> 
> 
> 
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