Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Myhill, Nova
Area of Concentration
General Studies
Abstract
This thesis will discuss the ways in which the institution of Christian-patriarchy has worked against liminality. More importantly, it will discuss how liminality has been preserved, by necessity, by those marginalized by the symbolic structure of Christian-Patriarchy. Chapter one of this thesis explores processes which generate extra-institutional symbolic meaning at the individual and community levels. Processes explored here for their generative capacity include those of Dianic ritual, feminist devised theater, traumatic recovery, and tarot-card reading. The playful and porous character of the liminal phases of these processes is understood as being fundamental to their meaning-generating effect. The causal necessity of generating extra-institutional meaning out of institutionally-marginalized life experiences is discussed. The desire of the thesis is to demonstrate the success of these processes in generating life-affirming meanings and attitudes of personal responsibility where Christian-patriarchy has failed to do so. The artistic component of this thesis, documented in chapter two, is a collectively created piece called Living Tarot. The script of Living Tarot consisted of twenty-two scenes corresponding to the Major Arcana of the tarot. Each audience member was asked to blindly choose only three of these scenes, which were meant to correspond to their own past, present, and future. The processes of both devising and performing Living Tarot will be discussed in detail and explored in terms of their efficacy in chapter three.
Recommended Citation
Everdale, Erin, "LIVING TAROT" (2020). Theses & ETDs. 5932.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5932