Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OriGen (Origen on Gender. The feminine as an intellectual category in the works of Origen of Alexandria.)
Reporting period: 2021-02-01 to 2023-01-31
Interdisciplinary research on women and gender has made great progress in the past fifty years, opening up new research horizons concerning the living conditions, social status and cultural role of women in the first centuries of Christianity. By contrast, only few historical, philosophical and theological works have considered the feminine as an intellectual category – that is, as a means of representing ideas about theological discourses. In the third century, Origen of Alexandria was one of the most influential and prolific Christian theologians and used significant feminine metaphorical language in his theology. Hence, the main aim of my research is to establish to what extent the feminine was employed by Origen as an intellectual category to express theological doctrines. The importance of Origen for the study of the feminine as an intellectual category is testified not only by the presence of feminine metaphorical language in his works, especially his Commentary and Homilies on the Song of Songs, but mostly by its consistent and coherent use throughout his whole production. Origen was influential to such an extent that he established a model for subsequent Christian theologians who employed feminine metaphorical language in their theological and philosophical works. With few exceptions, there are no relevant studies on Origen and the feminine. Therefore, this project not only fills a significant gap in the Origenian scholarship, but it innovates the field of early Christian studies by showing how the feminine can function as theological framework through which analyse complex theological discourses.
OriGen aimed at investigating the way in which the feminine became a rhetorical tool for Origen’s theological concerns, that is, a means of expressing theological doctrines. It has three specific objectives. First, it listed and interpreted the numerous textual loci in which Origen uses the feminine to convey theological doctrines. Secondly, it contextualises these passages within Origen’s own theology. Thirdly, it identifies, where possible, antecedent traditions which held similar beliefs about the feminine. This research has indeed demonstrated that feminine metaphorical language is not only central, but theologically significant in Origen’s literary production. The research conducted during the MSCA represents a significant step forward for the current state of the art. The studies on feminine imagery conducted thanks to this fellowship have been the first to consider the feminine as a theological category in the works of Origen of Alexandria. They show that the feminine is not merely a rhetorical device employed by Origen in his allegorical exegesis of the Biblical texts, but a theological category he uses to convey theological doctrines. Most importantly, feminine metaphorical language is used by the Alexandrian theologian to describe the complex, ascensive, and pedagogical path that leads to God. This category is fairly consistent throughout his work and is evident in all his writings, though with varying degrees of importance.
OriGen aimed at investigating the way in which the feminine became a rhetorical tool for Origen’s theological concerns, that is, a means of expressing theological doctrines. It has three specific objectives. First, it listed and interpreted the numerous textual loci in which Origen uses the feminine to convey theological doctrines. Secondly, it contextualises these passages within Origen’s own theology. Thirdly, it identifies, where possible, antecedent traditions which held similar beliefs about the feminine. This research has indeed demonstrated that feminine metaphorical language is not only central, but theologically significant in Origen’s literary production. The research conducted during the MSCA represents a significant step forward for the current state of the art. The studies on feminine imagery conducted thanks to this fellowship have been the first to consider the feminine as a theological category in the works of Origen of Alexandria. They show that the feminine is not merely a rhetorical device employed by Origen in his allegorical exegesis of the Biblical texts, but a theological category he uses to convey theological doctrines. Most importantly, feminine metaphorical language is used by the Alexandrian theologian to describe the complex, ascensive, and pedagogical path that leads to God. This category is fairly consistent throughout his work and is evident in all his writings, though with varying degrees of importance.
The first ten months of my fellowship were dedicated to listing, isolating, and contextualizing feminine imagery in the Origenian literary corpus. The following months were spent disseminating and exploiting some preliminary results, benefiting from observations from my peers. The final months of the MSCA fellowship have been mostly dedicated to writing the articles and recording the introductory course on Origen of Alexandria.
I have published (or have had accepted for publication) four articles stemming from the MSCA research in peer-reviewed, open-access journals. I am also editing a special issue in the Open Theology journal, entitled "Gendered Allegories and the Representation of the Feminine in Origen of Alexandria", which collects seven articles on feminine imagery in Origenian literature, representing the first comprehensive publication on this topic. Unfortunately, the publication times of publishers and journals are sometimes longer than expected, and not all the research is available yet. Nonetheless, all publications should be available by the end of 2024.
Although the first months of my fellowship incurred in mobility restrictions because of the global pandemic, I have been able to organize not one, but two project workshops. The first, entitled “Origen and Women”, has been organized within the international conference Origeniana XIII, which was postponed to summer 2022 because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. A second one-day interdisciplinary workshop, entitled “Women as a Code”, has been organized in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Antiquity and Christianity (C-SAC) at Aarhus University (AU).
I have also realised a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on Origen of Alexandria, published on the IAPS YouTube channel aimed at students and interested non-academic audience (e.g. priests, religious journalists, etc.). The videos have been recorded in professional recording studios at the Centre for Educational Development (CED) at Aarhus University. Some videos have been realized in collaboration with internationally renowned scholars, such as Prof. Samuel Fernandez, Dr. Sara Contini, and Dr. Giovanni Hermanin de Reichenfeld, showcasing the international network developed thanks to the MSCA Fellowship. The course is the first freely available systematic resource for the study of Origen of Alexandria. In the three months since it partial publication has already received an average of 130 views per video.
I have published (or have had accepted for publication) four articles stemming from the MSCA research in peer-reviewed, open-access journals. I am also editing a special issue in the Open Theology journal, entitled "Gendered Allegories and the Representation of the Feminine in Origen of Alexandria", which collects seven articles on feminine imagery in Origenian literature, representing the first comprehensive publication on this topic. Unfortunately, the publication times of publishers and journals are sometimes longer than expected, and not all the research is available yet. Nonetheless, all publications should be available by the end of 2024.
Although the first months of my fellowship incurred in mobility restrictions because of the global pandemic, I have been able to organize not one, but two project workshops. The first, entitled “Origen and Women”, has been organized within the international conference Origeniana XIII, which was postponed to summer 2022 because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. A second one-day interdisciplinary workshop, entitled “Women as a Code”, has been organized in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Antiquity and Christianity (C-SAC) at Aarhus University (AU).
I have also realised a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on Origen of Alexandria, published on the IAPS YouTube channel aimed at students and interested non-academic audience (e.g. priests, religious journalists, etc.). The videos have been recorded in professional recording studios at the Centre for Educational Development (CED) at Aarhus University. Some videos have been realized in collaboration with internationally renowned scholars, such as Prof. Samuel Fernandez, Dr. Sara Contini, and Dr. Giovanni Hermanin de Reichenfeld, showcasing the international network developed thanks to the MSCA Fellowship. The course is the first freely available systematic resource for the study of Origen of Alexandria. In the three months since it partial publication has already received an average of 130 views per video.
The results obtained through the MSCA mark a significant advancement in Origenian studies by producing the first scholarly literature on Origen and the feminine. While this topic had been mentioned briefly by scholars, no previous research thoroughly examined the importance and role of feminine metaphorical language in shaping Origen’s theology. Analyzing feminine metaphors and images as a theological language used by ancient authors to convey philosophical and theological doctrines introduces a novel approach to Christian texts. This methodology extends beyond the Origenian corpus and prompts a re-evaluation of early Christian literature. Highlighting how feminine metaphorical language functions as a coded system, laden with both explicit and implicit theological and philosophical assumptions, provides further insight into the development of the cultural concept of the feminine from Antiquity to the present day.