Theorizing the Goddess in Feminist Mythopoeic Fantasy

In my thesis, I examine the function and treatment of goddesses in six modern
feminist mythopoeic fantasy novels by Y olen, Shinn, and Harris. In these novels, the
goddesses and their worshippers serve as the agents of socio-political change within the
secondary world, inducing changes that end with the ultimate transformation of
oppressive social structures. Acknowledging these goddesses and incorporating them into
the fabric of communal life, the protagonists, and ultimately entire societies, are able
transcend issues of gender, race, ethnicity, class, and religion, in order to create a
peaceful and prosperous society. These novels work through many of the issues troubling
modern day feminist theorists and make important contributions to the discourse of
feminist spirituality and feminist theory as a whole. Extrapolating both a theory and
praxis from the texture of these fantasy narratives, I suggest that these stories offer a way
to transcend dichotomous thinking and escape the current stagnation of spirituality based
approaches to feminism.