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Sense-Making Bodies: Feminist Materiality and Phenomenology in Constructive Body Theologies

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University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2013 Sense-Making Bodies: Feminist Materiality and Phenomenology in Constructive Body Theologies Heike Peckruhn University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Continental Philosophy Commons, Feminist Philosophy Commons, Practical Theology Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Peckruhn, Heike, "Sense-Making Bodies: Feminist Materiality and Phenomenology in Constructive Body Theologies" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 994. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/994 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. SENSE-MAKING BODIES: FEMINIST MATERIALITY AND PHENOMENOLOGY IN CONSTRUCTIVE BODY THEOLOGIES __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Heike Peckruhn June 2013 Advisor: Dr. Deborah Beth Creamer ©Copyright by Heike Peckruhn 2013 All Rights Reserved Author: Heike Peckruhn Title: Sense-Making Bodies: Feminist Materiality and Phenomenology in Constructive Body Theologies Advisor: Dr. Deborah Beth Creamer Degree Date: June 2013 ABSTRACT Constructive body theology provides an ethical commitment to and a set of analytical principles for understanding bodily experience. If we insist upon the theological value of embodied experience, how can we give an adequate account of it? Are feminist appeals to the senses useful in developing theological truth claims based in embodied experiences? Feminist theologies which explicitly seek to overcome body/mind dualisms often reinscribe them when they neglect to attend to perception as a critical element of bodily experience. Phenomenological analyses of perception (such as suggested by Merleau-Ponty) strengthen and refine our conception of embodiment. Grounding constructive theology in experience requires understanding experience as bodily perceptual orientation, as perceptual bodily and cultural acts involved in socially and historically situated contextual meaning-making processes. This shift expands phenomenological concepts such as intentionality and habit, and allows for a comparative investigation of historical and cultural differences in embodied experiences through examples found in sensory anthropology. Body theology, framed as principles, strengthens theological projects (such as those by Carter Heyward and Marcella Althaus- Reid, as well as new constructive possibilities) through opening dialogical avenues of exploration into embodied being in the world. Body theology principles help us conceive of and address how our bodily experiencing—our feeling, tasting, hearing, imaging, ii remembering and other sensory knowledge —comes to matter in our lives, especially where oppressive forces viscerally affect embodied life. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation project has been supported by many persons. My advisor, Dr. Deborah Creamer, generously shared with me her time, wisdom, enthusiasm about this project. Without her scholarly prodding and providing spaces of collegiality, this project could not have been conceived and completed. Gratitude goes to Dr. Edward Antonio, Dr. Jacob Kinnard, and Dr. Alison Schofield, who challenged me to embody and articulate theory and theology complexly, clearly and coherently. Instances of importance and relevance in this project are directly connected to the influence and guidance of my advisory committee. Thank you. My gratitude goes out to “my” writing group, other friends and colleagues for their generous support, collegial encouragement, good humor, and patient walking-with: Dr. Tink Tinker, Dr. Julie Todd, Dr. Katherine Turpin, Elizabeth Coody, Dave Scott, Eu Kit Lim, Emily Kahm, Dr. Yvonne Zimmerman, Ben Sanders III, Dr. Brad Klein, Katie Fisher, Alice Runis, Mary Olson, Mary Ragan, Susan Humble, Kristi Dale, Dr. Heike Geist. Special thanks to Kathleen Wohlgemuth and Dr. Aaron Conley, keen eyes for detail, coherence, and clarity strengthened this project. I give thanks to my family: My mother Unchalee and father Gernot have helped me to use my wings. Their steadfast support of me, love for me, and pride in me are precious gifts. My sister Tanja loves and supports me across distances, and I am grateful for her example of living with persistence, faith, and joy. My ancestors, especially Oma Edith and Kun Yay, inspire and guide me, and teach me about the meanings of home. Finally, I am deeply grateful to my loving and supportive spouse, Brooke Fawley. Without her steady encouragement and patience, her vital emotional, intellectual, mental support, and unwavering love I would not have been able to undergo a project of this magnitude. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Chapter One: Introduction Of Body Theology ................................................................... 1 Bodily Experience ................................................................................................... 4 Representation of Difference in Experience ........................................................... 9 Constructive Body Theology ................................................................................ 12 “Constructive” Theology .......................................................................... 16 “Body Theology”–a Brief Detour on Definitions So Far ......................... 17 Framing a “Constructive Body Theology” ............................................... 24 Project Outline ...................................................................................................... 29 Chapter Two: Situating Feminist Theologies Phenomenologically ................................. 32 Situating Bodily Experience and Perception in Feminist Theology ..................... 33 Conceiving Perception .......................................................................................... 47 Concepts of Perception: Relevance in and to Theological Projects ......... 49 Situating the Theological Sense Regarding Perception ............................ 84 Moving Beyond the Empiricism-Intellectualism Spectrum ................................. 89 Chapter Three: Bodily Experience And Perceptual Orientation ....................................... 96 Bodily Perceptual Orientation in the World as Condition of Being ................... 102 Bodily Perceptual Orientations: Theoretical Assertions ......................... 103 Perceptual Intentionality: Perceptual Experience of Gender .................. 109 Habits and Perceptual Orientations: Perceptual Experiences of Race .... 137 Language and Perception of Normalcy................................................... 157 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 186 Chapter Four: Comparing Bodily Perceptual Orientations ............................................. 193 Bodily Perceptual Orientations: Historical and Cultural Differences ................. 199 Differently Gendered Bodily Intentionality ............................................ 203 Perceiving Others’ Bodies Differently.................................................... 223 Perceiving Normalcy Differently ............................................................ 236 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 260 Chapter Five: Body Theology ......................................................................................... 263 Principles of Body Theology .............................................................................. 267 Body Theology Approaches ............................................................................... 270 Touching the Strength of Carter Heyward .............................................. 272 Aligning with Indecency and Marcella Althaus-Reid ............................ 284 Orientation of Family Bodies.............................................................................. 297 Making Home in New Spaces................................................................. 298 Body Theologies at Home ...................................................................... 311 v Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 321 Coda: Sensing Futurities ................................................................................................. 324 References ....................................................................................................................... 332 vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION OF BODY THEOLOGY I was preparing a presentation on the importance of embodiment to theory and theology at a national academic conference in 2010 when I received a phone call from my father: “Oma passed away last night.” Oma, my paternal grandmother,
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