This thesis seeks to destabilize many of the hierarchical boundaries established by the recent critical projects surrounding “female modernism” and “middlebrow” fiction by highlighting two authors, Antonia White and Emily Holmes Coleman, who have been neglected precisely because their works challenge the boundaries of these literary classifications. The thesis suggests that White’s and Coleman’s texts seemingly defy this categorization specifically through the portrayal of psychosis, the threat and experience of which permeates their texts and the way in which this impacts the construction of female subjectivity. “Female modernism”, “middlebrow” fiction, and “fictions of madness” often appear to be at odds with one another, but a close examination of White’s and Coleman’s texts suggests that these boundaries are not impermeable. Chapters One and Two seek to contextualize White’s and Coleman’s texts within these critical arguments and gesture towards the following chapters which demonstrate the extent to which these texts are specifically concerned with testing and exploring boundaries in the formation of female subjectivity, specifically through the experience of psychosis. It is their alternating acceptance of and challenge to these boundaries which contributes to the mis-placement of their texts within literary classifications. Chapters Three, Four, and Five explore the fortification and dissolving of the boundaries of female subjectivities as represented in White’s and Coleman’s texts. Chapter Three examines the relationship between mother and daughter in the texts specifically through the process of maternity. It argues that the process of maternity challenges female subjectivity in such a way that is best understood if it is contextualized within Julia Kristeva’s conception of the abject. Chapter Four addresses the textual representation of psychosis as a dissolution of subjectivity which is analysed using the theories of Luce Irigaray. Chapter Five acts as a counter-balance to this by exploring the ways in which female subjectivity is positively constructed in the texts, specifically through the presentation of Catholicism. In combination, each of these thematic elements which explore and test various boundaries result in a body of texts which defy the boundaries of “female modernism”, the “middlebrow”, and “fictions of madness”. The thesis concludes by suggesting that it is those texts which were written in the 1950s and therefore contain elements which are characteristic of the culture of that decade which present the greatest problem for the categorization of these texts. It suggests that the literature of this decade, particularly literature written by women, deserves greater consideration to separate it more fully from the existing literary classifications which struggle to contain it.

A number of research projects on migration flows between Scotland and Ireland during the Plantation era have been conducted by social and religious historians. By providing an examination of the diffusion of Presbyterianism across the Irish Sea, this thesis addresses some of the dearth of work on cultural diffusion during the Plantation by geographers. To accomplish this goal, the thesis asked seven questions. In answering these questions, a dissenting Irish Sea culture area is described. The economic and political contexts in which the Plantation occurred are also delineated. The thesis then provides empirical analyses on the social and institutional networking patterns of the ministers who served in Irish Presbyterian churches. The last two empirical chapters concentrate on questions about deposition patterns and the trans-Channel nature of seventeenth-century Scottish geotheology. The final chapter provides a summary of the findings.

The subject of Scottish lay religious faith in the eighty years prior to the Reformation of 1559-60 is one in which a variety of concepts and concerns emerge. The choice which has been made reflects the constraints of time and space. Some attempt has also been made to address those areas which have been overlooked by historians, or rarely discussed, such as the role of Mary in lay religious faith. It was necessary to explain lay images of the afterlife in order to understand the path which laypeople chose to attain salvation, so chapters on the Day of Judgement, heaven, hell and purgatory should be seen as the context for understanding the chapters on God, Mary and Jesus. The first chapters discusses the Day of Judgement, an event which must be understood in order to interpret all lay religious attitudes and actions. The basic assumption of the Scots was that all people would be judged at the Day of Judgement, so decisions were made on earth in terms of their understanding of God's expectations on this final day. There were, in effect, two "Days of Judgement", a particular and a general one. An understanding of the nature of these two Days of Judgement illuminates understanding of the laity's conception of the function of purgatory, in particular, and also the importance to salvation of church rituals such as the Eucharist, as well as saintly and human intercession after death. Part of the thesis discusses heaven, hell and purgatory, those states of being which were the laity's future after death.

In the late 1780s there arose a theological controversy in Ayrshire, centred around the Rev William McGill (1732-1807), the associate minister to William Dalrymple (1723-1814) of the Old Kirk in Ayr. McGill was principally accused of holding ‘Socinian’ views, particularly in his Practical Essay on the Death of Jesus Christ (1786) which were at odds with the accepted standards of his church, a church which still retained a mainly Calvinistic outlook in the period. The Aim of this thesis Within this thesis I will attempt to place McGill firmly within the context of his day. This will be done by offering a picture of the Scottish, English and Irish ecclesiastical scene, with particular reference to Scotland, in which the Ayr minister was working. Further consideration will be given to the impact of the Enlightenment, as well as the American and French Revolutions, in the latter part of the century. The response of the various churches in Britain to these events are of particular importance for McGill’s career as, in his final published work On the fear of God (Ayr, 1795), the theological ‘radical’ emerges as a political conservative. What has perhaps been lacking in previous assessments of McGill is a study of the full range of influences which drove the Ayr minister’s theology. By utilising the evidence offered by the ‘Ayr Library Society’ (which held the works of noted English Socinians) of which McGill, along with Dalrymple, was a founder member in 1762, I will attempt to trace some of the main sources for McGill’s later thought. Of key significance is the holding of works by the Society of several leading English Socinians. Although speculative (as McGill does not directly cite these works), based on the evidence there does appear to be parallels between McGill’s work and that of the English theologians. I will also assess, in addition to considering why McGill’s work proved contentious, the reasons for his ‘apology’, following the case. Additionally it will be important to re-examine the overall effect of the case, in order to fully appreciate the significance of McGill for the wider Scottish churches of his day.

Bha Naomh Moire Òigh fìor chudromach ann an cràbhachd Eòrpach nam meadhan-aoisean anmoch. Tha e na amas aig an tràchdas seo faighinn a-mach a bheil an aon rud fìor airson Gàidhealtachd na h-Alba. Thathar a’ caoidh nach eil tùsan gu leòr ann a tha ceadachadh dhuinn mòran ionnsachadh mu chràbhachd nan Gàidheal aig an àm. Ach thèid cur air adhart an seo nach eil sin buileach ceart. Chithear gum faod sgrùdadh air ainmean, clachan-snaighte, clàraidhean eachdraidheil is eile a bhith torrach ma bhios sinn airson sealladh fhaighinn air cràbhachd do Mhoire. Ach thèid sealltainn cuideachd gur e sgrùdadh air litreachas an dòigh as fheàrr tuilleadh ionnsachadh mu chràbhachd do Mhoire. Chithear gum faod sgrùdadh mar sin ionnsachadh dhuinn mu chleachdaidhean cràbhaidh agus an dòigh a bhathar a’ tuigsinn àite na h-Òighe anns an diadhachd. ’S e a’ bhàrdachd chlasaigeach chràbhaidh a gheibhear anns an làmh-sgrìobhainn Leabhar Deadhan Lios Mòir (1512-1542) prìomh thùs an tràchdais seo. Thèid coimhead air nòsan na bàrdachd seo a bha ga dèanamh ann an Èirinn agus Alba agus thèid ceistean a thogail mu amasan, diadhachd agus tùsan nan dàn agus gu dè an ìre a tha iad a’ toirt dhuinn fianais airson creideamh a bha àraid do na Gàidheil. Gheibhear clàr agus sgrùdadh airson na bàrdachd chràbhaidh air fad a gheibhear ann an Leabhar an Deadhain. Tha còig dàin air Moire ann an Leabhar an Deadhain agus ’s iad sin: ‘Éistidh riomsa, a Mhuire mhór’, ‘Fuigheall beannacht brú Mhuire’, ‘Binn labhras leabhar Muire’, ‘Iomdha sgéal maith ar Mhuire’, agus ‘Ná léig mo mhealladh, a Mhuire’. Seallaidh sgrùdadh mionaideach air na còig dàin sin gun robh iomadh feart aig Moire do na Gàidheil, mar a bha air feadh na h-Eòrpa.

The thesis explores how far enclosure was pivotal in shaping the female Franciscan spirituality in thirteenth-century Umbria as cloistered and contemplative. It focuses on how enclosure influenced the development of representations of female urban sainthood, with particular reference to three Umbrian saints; Clare of Assisi, Clare of Montefalco and Angela of Foligno. The issue of enclosure came to the fore because of the success of the Franciscan movement in promoting the apostolic life, which emphasised the itinerant life, evangelisation and participation within the urban community. However, women who aspired to follow these values were instead directed towards introspective, contemplative seclusion. The claustration of Clare of Assisi exemplified this type of response. Using a combination of a wide range of sources, the nature of enclosure and the processes by which claustration was consistently articulated and promoted are reconstructed. My research reveals that the creation of the cloistered ideal was a negotiated process. The first, chapter, Challenging the stabilitas loci, examines the significance of hagiographic sources, in the form of vitae and canonisation proceedings, in revealing the nature of enclosure for religious women, and, by utilising a wide number of saintly examples, shows how often enclosure was in reality broken by women. The following two chapters concentrate on the construction of male textual authority and the importance they placed on the seclusion for religious women. Chapter 2, The regularisation of chastity: between doctrine practice, examines the theological arguments that were put forward in the development of monastic rules for women and how they reflected a trend that assumed that professed religious women ought to remain within the cloister. In doing so, the regularisation of the cloister emphasised the preservation of the chastity of nuns, through their affiliation to established orders, their supervision and material provision.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how experiences of violence, which have been secret in the past, can be articulated that they may become resources for theological reflection and Christian action. The research technique employed is ethnography, which is used to uncover the violence experienced in the lives of Dalit Christian women in Kerala State of India. Part one of this thesis concerns methodology. Chapter two examines how other women theologians working amongst poor and marginalised women from non-western cultures have sought to make women’s experience visible and have emphasised its theological significance. This chapter explores what I can gain from the work of these women that will help me to develop my own research on Dalit Christian women. Chapter three describes the research setting by explaining the context for this research, the researched community of Dalits and the location, where Dalit women gathered together. This chapter demonstrates my relations, as an ethnographer, to Dalit Christian women who have converted to Christianity from the Pulaya caste. Finally, this chapter justifies the research strategies employed in this research. Part two of this thesis contains my field research. Chapter four is about meta-ethnography generated at a one-day seminar and two Bible studies. In chapter five Dalit Christian women, who are the survivors of various kinds of violence, tell their life stories in their own words. In this way Dalit women started to uncover the secret and hidden experience they had in the past. Part three of this thesis is the analysis of data and conclusion. Chapter six analyses the significant themes, which have emerged from my research into the life experiences of Dalit women. It demonstrates that Dalit women’s experience and the cultural traditions of Dalit community are important resources for the development of a Dalit Feminist Practical Theology. Finally, in the light of my research, I make concrete strategies for action that could bring hope and transformation in the lives of Dalit women who are experiencing violence.

Hubmaier's appeal to the fathers was inspired by humanist principles, especially ad fontes, restitutionism, and rejection of scholastic syllogism and glosses in favour of full, humanist editions of the fathers based on an improved focus on grammar and philology. However, Hubmaier confessionalized Humanism by commandeering its disciplines, principles, and accomplishments to advance a reforming program that centred around credobaptism and freedom of the will. This confessionalization of Humanism is reflected also in the way Hubmaier exploited a perceived Nicodemism in the disparity between Erasmus' private and public statements on baptism and appropriated his endorsement of the docete–baptizantes–docentes baptismal sequence in Mt. 28:19 and defence of free will. Further, Hubmaier's Catholic, nominalist, and humanist academic background ensured that study of the fathers was an intuitive activity as his Anabaptist convictions developed. His nominalist education under the mentorship of Johann Eck also seems to have factored into his moderate Augustinianism and use of the African bishop in defence of free will against the hyper-Augustinianism of Luther. Hubmaier used carefully selected, amenable patristic theologians and historical witnesses to verify that credobaptism was preserved by the fathers in continuity with the practice of the apostolic era, while infant baptism was introduced only later and gradually accepted in the second to fifth centuries until definitively ratified by Augustine and universally embraced by the Catholic, papal "particular church." This increasing confusion during the patristic era was thought by Hubmaier to reflect the hesitant acceptance of paedobaptism in his own day especially by Zwingli and Erasmus, which inspired his desire for a new ecumenical council to decide the correct form of baptism on the basis of Scripture and supporting patristic exegesis. Ultimately, Hubmaier not only cognitively accepted the teachings of the fathers on baptism and free will, but embraced them as co-affiliates with himself in the one, holy, apostolic ecclesia universalis in protest against the errant papal ecclesia particularis as per the composition of his ecclesiology.

Traditionally, the bishops who held office during the civil war which dominated King Stephen's reign (1135-1154) have been considered weak and ineffective, able neither to bring peace between the two sides or among warring local barons nor to protect their flocks or even themselves from the so-called 'Anarchy'. The explanation for this has been found in the bishops' lack of spiritual calibre. Bishops have also been seen as withdrawing their support from the king and ending their involvement in royal government, partly because of increasing general ecclesiastical desire for separation between Church and State and partly because of specific disputes with Stephen. As a consequence of all this, bishops are allowed little importance in modern histories of Stephen's reign. This thesis shows that modern historiographical consensus is based in flawed interpretive frameworks which have led to misinterpretation of the nature of the episcopate and its importance in Stephen's reign. It offers more valid alternatives and then re-examines, the royal, ecclesiastical and, especially, the local evidence in light of them to show that, in fact, the bishops were crucially important figures in regional politics, religion and society during the civil war. It proves as well, that they could possess considerable spiritual authority and continued to be committed to the king and active in the government of the kingdom throughout the period. Additionally, each of these also has consequences for how the episcopacy and Anglo-Norman history in general are understood. This is, therefore, a reassessment of the bishops of King Stephen's reign.

This thesis is premised on the fundamental notion of religious translation as a process of interpretation and adaptation that arises out of a complex iinguistic and cultural interplay. Its aim is to examine the types of interpretative problems one encounters as a society deeply rooted in Biblical and Christian practices struggles to integrate the rituals and formulae of Buddhism. As part of a cultural system, the translation of a religion cannot be explored in a vacuum, but needs to be viewed in the mutual interdependence with other elements of such system. Starting from Giambattista Vico's hypothesis that 'whenever men can form no idea of distant and unknown things, they judge them by what is familiar and at hand' (1744) this thesis aims to look at the interplay of local and foreign traditions in the translation and domestication of a Japanese new religious movement, Soka Gakkai, that has migrated from East to West. Through the notion of 'cultural repertoire', i.e. the aggregate of options utilized by a group of people for the organization of life', this work explores the extent in which Catholicism in Italy has influenced the formation of both religious sense and religious vocabulary. It will be argued that in Italy, the translation of an entire set of Japanese key-concepts pertaining to the sphere of religion has been measured on the yardstick of Christian vocabulary, and thus influenced by the search of 'perfect equivalences'. This operation has, in time, secured the successful dissemination of Soka Gakkai in the territory. At the same time, however, the overlap of Catholic and Buddhists practices has given rise to a peculiar form of hybrid religion that can be defined as 'Catho- Buddhism'.