UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER How do words to and for the divine influence our behaviour to each other? Can these words be changed to contribute to the flourishing of all humankind? Margaret Elizabeth Metcalfe ORCID: 0000-0002-3613-8285 Doctor of Philosophy December 2020 This thesis has been completed as a requirement for a postgraduate research degree of the University of Winchester. DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT STATEMENT Declaration: No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. I confirm that this thesis is entirely my own work I confirm that no work previously submitted for credit has been reused verbatim. Any previously submitted work has been revised, developed and recontextualised relevant to the thesis I confirm that some aspects of pp34-69 in the thesis has been published in advance of its submission and is appropriately referenced in the text. I confirm that no third-party proof-reading or editing service has been used in this thesis. Copyright: Copyright © Margaret Elizabeth Metcalfe 2020 How do words to and for the divine influence our behaviour to each other? Can these words be changed to contribute to the flourishing of all humankind? University of Winchester, PhD Thesis, pp1-365, ORCID 0000-0002-3613-8285. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Copies (by any process) either in full, or of extracts, may be made only in accordance with instructions given by the author. Details may be obtained from the RKE Centre, University of Winchester. This page must form part of any such copies made. Further copies (by any process) of copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the permission (in writing) of the author. No profit may be made from selling, copying or licensing the author’s work without further agreement. 1 Acknowledgements I am grateful to Lisa Isherwood and Anna King for supervising this thesis. Their engagement with my writing and their thoughtful questioning have been significant in shaping the end result. I am grateful to my family and friends, both for understanding my many absences as I have learnt, thought and written and for providing support, encouragement and opportunities to engage in other aspects of life. This thesis is dedicated to Michael, without whom it would not have been written. For believing in me from the beginning, constant encouragement, endless discussion, clarifying questions and constructive comments – thank you. 2 UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER ABSTRACT How do words to and for the divine influence our behaviour to each other? Can these words be changed to contribute to the flourishing of all humankind? Margaret Elizabeth Metcalfe ORCID 0000-0002-3613-8285 Doctor of Philosophy September 2020 There have been many feminist-liberation critiques of the traditional set of words to and for the divine. These critiques have included a concern about the influence of this set of words on behaviour and have called for change from the traditional words. This thesis presents a theoretically robust exploration of how words to and for the divine influence behaviour, analysing the set of words to and for the divine used in the authorised liturgical texts for Holy Communion in the Church of England. The significance of ideology is highlighted, since ideologies are both expressed and maintained in word use and since they promote social practices. Using a feminist-liberation methodology this thesis employs understandings of language processing taken both from psycholinguistics and from Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language to reveal what is present in the case study texts and to indicate how these words influence behaviour. It receives and adopts the contribution of feminist theology in highlighting dualistic structures of language use and the ways in which this enables influence from words to and for the divine to behaviour. Butler’s insights into our constitution in language is read through a model of communication, identity and relationships to show that words addressed to others as well as words addressed to oneself have capacity to constitute us into identities and relationships and so affect our behaviour. For Christians, words to and for the divine constitute us into identities and relationships, influencing our behaviour. Despite multiple barriers to change from the traditional set of words, this thesis proposes that change can come about through enabling congregations to understand how words function and through using new words to and for the divine to destabilise dominant and oppressive ideologies through exploiting their structural weaknesses. The hope of this thesis is that words to and for the divine can contribute to the flourishing of all humankind. [Keywords: words, divine, behaviour, psycholinguistics, ideology, change] 3 Table of Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 7 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 1: Psycholinguistic tools and perspectives and words to and for the divine........... 34 Context ................................................................................................................................... 37 Semantics and semantic processing ....................................................................................... 39 Frequency ............................................................................................................................... 40 Associations ............................................................................................................................ 43 Semantic networks ................................................................................................................. 47 Spreading activation ............................................................................................................... 51 Speed of processing ................................................................................................................ 52 Concrete and abstract words ................................................................................................. 56 Metaphor ................................................................................................................................ 56 Multi-word phrases ................................................................................................................ 63 Non-propositional speech ...................................................................................................... 64 Emotional valence .................................................................................................................. 64 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 68 Chapter 2: Wittgenstein's ways of seeing and words to and for the divine ......................... 70 Relevant aspects of Wittgenstein's philosophical approach to language .............................. 73 Aspects of the uses of language in liturgical texts .................................................................. 79 Describing ............................................................................................................................... 81 Forms of life ............................................................................................................................ 81 Language-games ..................................................................................................................... 83 Pictures ................................................................................................................................... 85 Family resemblances .............................................................................................................. 91 Comparison ............................................................................................................................. 93 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 94 Chapter 3: Thea/ological insights and words to and for the divine ...................................... 97 Sallie McFague ........................................................................................................................ 98 An account of and engagement with McFague’s understandings of language................. 98 Mary Daly .............................................................................................................................. 108 An account of and engagement with Daly’s understandings of language ...................... 109 Elizabeth Johnson ................................................................................................................. 113 An account of and engagement with Johnson’s understandings of language ................ 113 4 Effects of words to and for the divine .................................................................................. 120 Dualistic language - a contribution