Month: September 2017

This summer, the York St John Literature programme invited students and staff to read and respond to Colm Tóibín’s 2012 novella The Testament of Mary, a study of the mother of Jesus of Nazareth as she comes to terms with her son’s crucifixion at hands of the Roman Empire. In this post, Chris Maunder critiques Tóibín’s conservatism and points to more radical challenges to the Cult of Mary.

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By Chris Maunder

I started this book with some relish. For many years, I have been a researcher of the cult of the Virgin Mary; I have written one book, edited another, written several articles on the topic, and there are more publications to come. I particularly like provocative work about Mary that is prepared to undermine some of the old myths: controversial feminist academics like Jane Schaberg and Mary Daly, for example, or authors of novels on Mary such as Michèle Roberts. I once introduced Dutch feminist Els Maeckelberghe’s Desperately Seeking Mary to a group of Catholic deacons in training; it so upset them that they refused to engage with it. I wasn’t invited back to speak the next year! I am by no means averse to upsetting the status quo. So why was I so disappointed with The Testament of Mary? Continue reading “big summer read: a really radical mary?”

We are looking for first year, second year, and third students to join our blog team at Point Zero. These exciting extra-curricular roles are ideally suited to students who are considering careers in writing, journalism, or publishing or who simply have a passion for words and literature. The team, working under the guidance of our academic blog team (Dr Janine Bradbury, Dr Alex Beaumont, and Dr Adam Smith) will meet several times over the year to curate content and there will be an expectation that you will be prepared to be a regular and reliable contributor to this site.

Please email Dr Alex Beaumont (a.beaumont@yorksj.ac.uk) to express an interest by Wednesday of Week 2 (27th September 2017) if you would like to join us!

This semester we are issuing an open call for contributions to Point Zero that fall under the broad theme of ‘global literature’. We are especially interested in:

• book reviews
• pieces by study abroad/returning study abroad students

Please send your submissions of no more than 1000 words to Janine Bradbury (j.bradbury@yorksj.ac.uk). We are unable to publish all submissions, and submissions may be subject to minor editing for length and tone. We will be accepting submissions until Week 12 of Semester 1.

This summer, the York St John Literature programme invited students and staff to read and respond to Colm Tóibín’s 2012 novella The Testament of Mary, a study of the mother of Jesus of Nazareth as she comes to terms with her son’s crucifixion at hands of the Roman Empire. Building upon Adam’s post yesterday, here Nicoletta Peddis explores the power of testament to subvert and undermine our perception of  a major biblical character.

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By Nicoletta Peddis

Testament (n.) late 13c.: “last will disposing of property,” from Latin testamentum “a last will, publication of a will,” from testari “make a will, be witness to,” from testis “witness.” Used in reference to the two divisions of the Bible (early 14c) (…) subsequently was interpreted as Christ’s “last will.” (from Online Etymology Dictionary).

In the Gospels, the Virgin Mary is the personification of grace and suffering, the mater dolorosa who is largely voiceless. We know little about her, except for her virginity and her grief. Colm Tóibín’s short novel The Testament of Mary gives voice to Mary, subverting the traditional representation of Jesus’s mother and at the same time expanding the definition of the term testament. The Testament of Mary is her giving witness to, her attestation; “I was there,” she says. The fictional portrait that Tóibín creates of Mary breaks with tradition to deepen her humanity and to bring her down to earth, trying to understand her as a suffering woman and as a mother afflicted with a difficult son. Continue reading “big summer read: mary rewrites jesus of nazareth”