Searching for a Cross-cultural Virgin Mary

The figure of the Virgin Mary is a divisive one in our modern culture. To some she appears to be a symbol of religious oppression, while to others she is a constant comfort and even an inspiration towards greater liberation. This book looks at women´s relationship to the Virgin Mary in two contrasting cultural and religious contexts, and compares how these relationships have been analysed and explained on a theological and a sociological level.

Drawing on the author’s own ethnographic research among Catholic Costa Rican women and the oral traditions of Orthodox Finnish women, this study relates their experiences with Mary to the folklore and popular religion materials present in each culture. The book combines not only different social and religious frameworks, but also takes a critical look at ways in which feminists have (mis)interpreted the meaning of Mary for women. It therefore combines theological and ethnographic methods in order to create a feminist Marian theology that is particularly attentive to women´s everyday religious practices and theological thinking.

This study provides a unique ethnographically informed insight into women’s religious interactions with Mary. As such, it will be of great interest to those researching in religious studies and theology, gender studies, Latin American studies, anthropology of religion and folklore studies.

Elina Vuola is a professor of the Academy of Finland at the Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki, Finland. She has been a visiting scholar at the Chicago Theological Seminary, the Harvard Divinity School and at Northwestern University in the USA, as well as the Departamento Ecumenico de Investigaciones in Costa Rica. Professor Vuola has published widely in this field in both Finnish and English, contributing to publications such as Contemporary Encounters in Gender and Religion. European Perspectives and The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theology.