Abstract

This thesis examines the imaginary process employed in the construction of exemplary religious narratives. Exemplary narratives present figures that demonstrate specific virtues or ideals to be imitated, such as the saint in Christian hagiography. Hagiographical scholars, like Peter Brown, have alluded to the fact that the imagination plays a significant role in the construction and reception of these narratives, but have not, thus far, rigorously defined the imagination or its role in narrative construction. Similarly, contemporary writers, like Carol P. Christ, who are presently engaged in the construction of exemplary narratives in order to provide alternative role models and figures, openly acknowledge that they are employing their imaginations during this narrative process. However, they, too, have not presented a clear definition of the imagination nor adequately explained how it is being employed. This thesis proposes one possible approach to imagination and narrative construction based on the work of Paul Ricoeur. Ricoeur asserts that the imagination is a crucial component in narrative construction, which he refers to as “emplotment.” However, he does not take these constructions at face value. Ricoeur’s “hermeneutics of suspicion” requires that a distanced evaluation of these narrative proposals be undertaken, which helps to discern biases and other distortions that may be introduced during this imaginative process. He identifies certain forms of ideology and utopia as possible distortions, thereby establishing a template by which imaginary constructions may be examined. This thesis utilizes Ricoeur’s approach to narrative construction to examine two exemplary narratives that present particular models of conduct for women, “The Life of Umiliana de’ Cerchi,” written by Vito of Cortona, a Franciscan friar in the thirteenth century, and the contemporary Goddess narrative presented by spiritual feminist Carol P. Christ. Although these two narratives present extremely different types of figures, a humble saint and a confident goddess, the imagination is employed by both authors. The “emplotted” nature of these exemplary narratives and the possible distortive tendencies of the exemplary models constructed in this imaginary process are examined.