Applying a re-envisioned, ecological, feminist hermeneutics, this book builds on two important responses to twentieth- and twenty- first-century situations of ecological trauma, especially the complex contexts of climate change and cross-species relations: first, ecological feminism; second, ecological hermeneutics in the Earth Bible tradition. By way of readings of selected biblical texts, this book suggests that an ecological feminist aesthetic, bringing present situation and biblical text into conversation through engagement with activism and literature, principally poetry, is helpful in decolonizing ethics. Such an approach is both informed by and speaks back to the new materialism in ecological criticism.
“The extraordinary breadth in this braided conversation between the biblical text and contemporary ecological contexts is impressive. Elvey combines analysis with creativity, complexities with poetry, nuance with passion. This work challenges, inspires and exhorts us to change and to imagine the future of our world differently.” Elizabeth Dowling, Independent Biblical Scholar, Australia
“This work builds upon the ecological hermeneutic of the Earth Bible project, while drawing also from feminist theological readings, the new materialism, indigenous scholarship and activism, and poetry, all in the service of reading Luke “with the Earth.” This is a sophisticated, passionate, and timely reading. The Earth cries out, and Elvey enables us to hear these cries.” Shelly Matthews, Brite Divinity School, USA
“With great expertise and the fresh vision of a poet, Elvey draws disparate sources together into a searching eco-feminist conversation. This is a compelling appraisal of what it takes to face the traumas of ecological damage, colonialism and patriarchy and move towards the flourishing of all, including our more-than-human kin.” Vicky Balabanski, Adelaide College of Divinity, Australia
“This book is a breath of fresh air. Its braided ecological feminist materialist approach breathes exhortation, encouragement and consolation to enable shifts in perception. This book energises impelling action for a future unlike the present in cooperation with Earth and the more than human in all their vibrant materiality.” Kathleen P. Rushton, Independent Biblical Interpreter, Aotearoa New Zealand
“Anne Elvey’s work is a deeply personal, ongoing wrestle with Scripture and the nature of its demands in a deeply unjust world. It is a challenging and compassionate journey of ecological entanglement, poetic feminism, and fundamental ecological understanding, urging us to let ourselves be embraced by a more complete, just, and harmonious world.” Christina Petterson, Australian National University, Australia
Inaugural ANZATS Book Prize for an Established Scholar judges’ comments: “This is a stunning book; it is beautifully written, academically rigorous, wide-ranging and highly original.”
“Elvey is acutely aware of the tension of writing about a text that
was complicit in the colonization and trauma of a settled land. Her
acknowledgement of this tension also includes her recognition of her
work being a partial reading; a more complete reading, she states,
would be a collaborative reading, a conversation between First Nations
readers and settlers (p. 174). Just as Marcia Langton has described
‘Indigenous Art’ as a settler construct (p. 175), Elvey recognizes that Indigenous engagement with biblical texts has been and will continue to be sometimes critical and resisting, sometimes otherwise. That
engagement is best defined and described by Indigenous scholars and
communities themselves (p. 175). What Elvey does here is a self-aware
and counter-colonial re-reading of the Magnificat that is historically and
culturally informed. It is an important contribution but also a beautiful,
meditative read, engaging the mind and soul.” Review by Dianne Rayson in JASR https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.26174
Sun Glint Drift 