- Title
- Re(dis)covering the creative power of eros : finding liberation from neoliberalism through the feminist awakening of aphrodite-demeter consciousness
- Creator
- Clements. Eileen
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- Text; Thesis; PhD
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/173363
- Identifier
- vital:14650
- Abstract
- There is a problem with western patriarchal capitalist narratives of love and connected models of subjectivity which some feminisms, in particular, neoliberal (post)feminism, continue rather than criticise. This is a problem, not only because these feminisms uphold existing patriarchal structures and values, but because models of patriarchal subjectivity are founded on a repression and devaluation of love that contributes to what I am naming a ‘crisis of love’ in neoliberal societies. While some solutions to this problem have been offered, including by feminist love studies scholars, none of the solutions address the whole issue – for example, feminisms that ignore issues of spirituality and the female subject’s relationship to the divine, and the impact of myth on the psyche. Until these aspects are included in a rethinking of both female subjectivity and narratives of love, the problem will not be solved. There are many kinds of love but Eros in particular, which is such a charged narrative in western patriarchal capitalist society, is the kind of love that most urgently needs to be rethought and re(dis)covered. Through examination of the major founding myth of female subjectivity for western patriarchy – the Madonna/whore binary – a pathway to addressing this problem of love becomes possible. Rethinking this binary according to reinterpretations of the myths of Aphrodite and Demeter offers a rethinking of Eros as a creative, life-affirming power. This renewed narrative of Eros creates new models of female subjectivity – and the potentiality for new models of ethics – that challenge the contemporary neoliberal paradigm.; Doctor of Philosophy
- Publisher
- Federation University Australia
- Rights
- Copyright Eileen Clements
- Rights
- Open Access
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- Ecofeminism; Post-feminism; Neoliberal Feminism; Jungian Feminism; Feminist Myths; Feminine Subjectivity; Feminine Divine; Eros; Love Studies; Demeter; Aphrodite; Feminist Spirituality
- Full Text
- Thesis Supervisor
- Mummery, Jane
- Hits: 1630
- Visitors: 1532
- Downloads: 211
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE2 | Australian Digital Thesis | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |