A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
If the Mother of God does not listen – Women's contested agency and the lived meaning of the Orthodox religion in North Karelia
Subtitle: Women's contested agency and the lived meaning of the Orthodox religion in North Karelia
Authors: Marja-Liisa Honkasalo
Publisher: American Folklore Society
Publication year: 2015
Journal: Journal of American Folklore
Volume: 128
Issue: 507
First page : 64
Last page: 92
Number of pages: 29
ISSN: 0021-8715
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerfolk.128.507.0065
Finnish Orthodox women's ambiguous situation of interfaith marriages in Lutheran, secular Finland is marked by a peculiar triple sense of otherness, causing elements of deep crisis among many. Employing Ernesto de Martino's concept of "dehistoricizing," the author claims that domestic religious rituals restore women's agency and give them metahistorical solace. The ritual presence of the Mother of God binds together separate elements of domestic life and a mythical common past that creates and recreates mothers' agency within the interfaith dilemma.