Historically, the Roman Catholic Church has used visual imagery as a powerful
didactic tool to support and validate the patriarchal structure of the Christian faith.
This study focuses on the prevalent visual portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a
penitent prostitute. This visual conceptualisation is exposed as an unjust
condemnation of a biblical woman whose apostolic calling is validated by the
Gospel accounts.
A critical examination of the Christian iconography within a representative selection
of Mary Magdalene imagery further identifies a bias of condemnation towards
women's sexuality. Thus, Mary Magdalene is epitomised as the archetypal immoral
woman, and unfavourably contrasted to the chaste purity of the Virgin Mary.
The study evaluates the ethical implications of this mis-representation, and
proposes, as a corrective to the imbalance, the creative actualisation of positive
woman-affirming imagery.
ยท An extended chronological index of Mary Magdalene imagery is appended to the
study as Appendix A / M.Th. (Theological Ethics)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/17929 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Cormick, Diana Mary |
| Contributors | Hulley, L. D., Landman, C. (Christina) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xix, 296 leaves) |
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