Illumine Archive

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https://hdl.handle.net/1828/23150

Publication Lifespan: 2002-2013

History of the Journal:

Illumine was an online, peer‑reviewed, open-access scholarly journal produced by graduate students, research fellows, and staff of the University of Victoria’s Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS). During its years of operation, the journal served as a platform for emerging scholars to explore the complex interplay between religion and society across both historical and contemporary contexts.

Focus & Scope:

Illumine published scholarly work from graduate students and recent graduates whose research engaged the relationship between religion, culture, and society. Its scope included topics such as religious diversity, religion and public policy, health, science, ethics, globalization, and the arts. The journal also welcomed creative textual and visual works aligned with the CSRS’s areas of inquiry.

ISSN: 1705-2947, EISSN: 1712-5634

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 95

A Spider Woman story
(Illumine, 2006) Young, Janice E.
Spider Woman, the Cosmic Weaver, as healing symbol and image of empowerment, found a prominent place in the linguistic landscape of second-wave feminist discourse. Although not synonymous with feminism, feminist spirituality emerged as a strong current within the movement, a current which continues today. In Gyn/Ecology, a highly influential text of this era, Mary Daly shows the link between language, myth, and oppression and sets women to the task of recognizing ways in which our words and stories betray us. Further, she sets us to design words and stories through the power of Spider Woman imagery and textile metaphors. Using Daly’s work as a springboard, the following essay traces the emerging role of Spider Woman in developing a “gynocentric language” and a new linguistic landscape, evidenced in women’s writing as it continues into the new millennium.
Aemilia Lanyer’s Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum: Protofeminism, piety, or transcendence?
(Illumine, 2008) Braun, Connie
Aemilia Lanyer continues to be a controversial figure in the early modern tradition. Lanyer was not an aristocrat; her connections to the court included a sexual liaison with Queen Elizabeth’s cousin and her dedication in Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611) was to women of nobility. Written in the conventions of religious poetry, her work is a defense of Eve in the voice of Pilate’s wife. At times the voices of the speaker and the poet appear to be intertwined in a subversion of the misogynist view of Eve’s actions, contesting contemporary patriarchal egemony. However, it is also arguable that despite her less than “virtuous” background and in the face of her possible financialor feminist ambitions, the Christian influences evident in her poetry suggest that Lanyer was a spiritually motivated woman whose work offers a hermeneutic for authentic Christian spirituality.
After ground zero: Problems of memory and memorialisation
(Illumine, 2003) Carr, Geoff
According to French historian Pierre Nora, the twin economic and political revolutions of the eighteenth century ruptured lived traditions of memory as new social orders sought to create “new” pasts through establishing official “sites of memory.” It is against this formal tide that the anti-monument movement struggles, to return the act of social retrospection back to everyday life, to place the responsibility of retaining the past not on a site specific object, such as an obelisk, but upon each individual. In light of this current epistemological shift, it is curious that the Memory Foundations plan produced by architect Daniel Libeskind for the site of New York’s razed World Trade Center (WTC) ignores this avant-garde turn, and favours instead the creation of a conservative site of memory. Especially troubling is the vaguely defined process, used by Libeskind and other officials, to invest this place with an aura of sacredness. In this paper, I will discuss why constructing public memory at such sites is generally flawed, and suggest how the proposed “sacred memorial space” at Ground Zero attempts to manage and harness the range of possible recollections to be drawn from the horror of the collapse of the WTC, selectively forgetting the contradictory and complex, in favour of a spiritualised homogeneity.
An explanation and understanding of Wiccan ritual: Approaching a deviant religious discourse in the modern West
(Illumine, 2005) Wagar, Samuel
This article applies Foucault's idea of heterotopia and Verter's extension of Bourdieu's cultural capital / religious capital to the foundation rituals of the Wiccan religion. Wicca as a feminist, body-positive, and sexuality positive religion supports challenging alternatives to the cultural status quo and accumulates religious and cultural capital for its members. It can legitimately be seen as a contra-hegemonic religious movement in gender and sexuality.
Articulating religious change: Bini the prophet, the seer
(Illumine, 2009) Redden, Jason
The transmission of Christianity among Indigenous people without the involvement of European or Euro-North American missionaries has been well documented in the North American ethnographic and historical records. In the North American West, the convergence of Christianity and Indigenous religious practices is manifest in the Indigenous prophet traditions in the early nineteenth century. Although these prophet traditions predate direct contact with Euro-North Americans, much scholarship has maintained that their growth and development is explained not by Indigenous or Christian religiosity but by more fundamental material or psychological phenomena, most oft en connecting the prophet tradition to the indirect eff ects of colonial invasion. Following the oral narratives on Bini, the Witsuwit’en prophet, collected by Marius Barbeau in the 1920s, I suggest that the prophet tradition is not only a response to colonial pressures but also serves as a powerful idiom for articulating religious change and thus is a fundamentally local means of religious transformation.
Augmented understanding: Srul Irving Glick and the redefinition of the concept of Jewish composers
(Illumine, 2007) Hopper, Deborah
North American Jewish musicians and composers in the early twentieth century fought many of the same difficulties as their predecessors in Europe. The pressure to assimilate affected them in such a way that many sought to distance themselves from overly Jewish subjects. However, as the century progressed, musicians and composers began investigating these issues and challenging previously accepted assumptions. One such musician was the Canadian composer Srul Irving Glick. Through years of introspection and self-analysis, Glick discovered that his roots in Judaism were stronger and more important to his identity than were the opinions of others. Thus, with a stronger sense of self, Glick began incorporating Jewish folk idioms and elements of cantorial music into his compositions. This article investigates Glick’s journey to acceptance. From concealment to glorification, this article will show that it is Glick’s music that truly reflects the heart and soul of this incredible Canadian composer.
Beer bottles and saints: A postcolonial reading of Jim Logan’s let us compare miracles from his classical Boriginal series
(Illumine, 2006) Campbell, Alison N.T.
Colonization, modernism, and postmodernism have challenged the way First Nations people are looked at, and how their art is perceived. As a result, First Nations artists and theorists are challenging the “otherness” that has been assigned to them through these discourses and are striving to find a place for their art practice in the art canon. In this climate, Jim Logan, a Métis born Canadian artist, challenges tradition through his incorporation of Native imagery into significant Christian works that are part of the Western art canon. In Logan’s work an apparent dualism exists: the works reflect Native art production, writing, and discourse, and yet also strive to locate themselves within the European art tradition. To understand this dualism, a post-colonial analysis will be applied to the art conventions incorporated into Logan’s work Let Us Compare Miracles, painted in 1992 as part of his Classical Aboriginal Series.
Black Jesus, religious truth, and Tupac Shakur: Belief and the irony of faith
(Illumine, 2011) Zielke, Dustin
Tupac Shakur’s black Jesus should be understood through a distinction between belief and faith. The point of this distinction is not merely a matter of semantics. Rather, it helps illustrate how black Jesus challenges us to re-imagine religious truth and recognize the powerful role of irony in religious matters. Religious belief is commonly understood as a belief in a religious reality, or something that is objectively true. Tupac’s black Jesus, however, refers neither to an objective reality, nor a historical black Jesus. Nevertheless, he is a figure of religious devotion. Other scholars have noted the radical nature of Tupac’s black Jesus, but I suggest that they have overlooked, or understated, the unique way that Tupac’s black Jesus re-orients our idea of religious truth. Tupac’s black Jesus encourages religious truth to be understood as something that addresses individuals instead of regarding it as a Truth that is universally prescriptive, or potentially provable.
“Christian Society”: A more influential concept than often understood?
(Illumine, 2007) Schoeber, Axel
The rise of monarchies; the rise of cities; the supposedly radical break in the Reformation with the communal emphasis of the Middle Ages—all have been described as signs of early secularization. This paper will dispute those claims. It will examine the concept of “Christian society” and demonstrate that it still had a powerful hold on the minds of early modern Europeans, yielding both constructive attempts to strengthen society and fearful attempts to purge it of the contamination of the Other.
Coming to our senses: Rediscovering rites of passage for contemporary youth
(Illumine, 2002) Amos, Patrick
Cross–cultural research on the initiatory rituals and education of youth suggest that initiatory processes are archetypal and intrinsic processes of the human psyche, and will occur regardless of whether or not they are legitimized by any particular, official adult culture. However, in our secularized (modern, Western) society, a youth’s transition from one life–stage to the next, while acknowledged, may not involve a profound transformation of his or her identity. As a contextual framework for this discussion, I will examine adolescent issues in light of the initiatory processes conceptualized by French anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep. Following is my presentation of a recently developed and implemented wilderness–based rites of passage experience, influenced by traditional Aboriginal cultures. It is designed to expand the initiate’s self–concept from one that is egocentric, to include a more eco–centric supra–personal (larger–than–individuated–self) identity with human and more than human relations. Finally, I will consider reasons for resistance to such practices in our contemporary society, including paradigmatic constraints, incomprehension, and the perceived dangers of engaging initiatory processes.
Conflict in the classroom: Religion and Republicanism in Algeria and Alsace, 1918–1940
(Illumine, 2006) Magrath, Bronwen
Between World War One and World War Two, successive French governments sought to strengthen the Republic by fostering a sense of patriotism among youths in colony and metropole. Classrooms became battlegrounds where linguistic and religious identities were constructed, resisted and reformed. Comparative case studies of Alsace and Algeria reveal the continuities and contrasts of French policy within France and across the empire. Education policy as created by the Republican government was not uniform throughout the interwar period, but was constantly reformed to meet needs on the ground. By focussing on the way cultural identities were created and recreated, this article seeks to demonstrate how individuals and groups on all sides of the colonizing relationship interacted in education.
“Creating an environment so someone can come to Christ”: "Relevant” environments, audio/video technology, and ritual practice
(Illumine, 2011) Baker, Laurie
The expansion in the U.S. of a House of Worship (HoW) market has seen the increase in professional audio and video devices use by evangelical denominations and corporate practices of designing, manufacturing and marketing specifi c devices for this niche consumer. This paper explores how HoW personnel are taught to conceptualize the use of professional audio and video devices to create culturally “relevant” worship environments. Amidst vectors of control, mastery, and militarized and nationalist discourses, personnel learn particular dispositions towards device use, and niche products are marketed to HoW users. The tensile nexus of these discourses and their attendant practices converge in performative aspects of ritual.
Cultivating good human resources: Morality, conformity and marginalization in an Indonesian state development ideology
(Illumine, 2004) Munro, Jenny
Scholars of Indonesia argue that the state has a long history of using development ideology to regulate behaviour, define gender roles, and judge the conduct of citizens. Through a critical examination of state discourse in national newspapers, this paper draws attention to “human resource development” as an ideology used by the government to promote conformity and morality. Looking at discourse on “human resource development” in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua, I argue that the ideology is highly entangled in state politics, and obscures marginalization in Papua.
Dastafshani (Ecstasy): The art of S. Mohammad Ehsaey
(Illumine, 2002) Stanick, Leslie
A review of an exhibition of contemporary Islamic calligraphy as abstract painting by S. Mohammad Ehsaey at the Ziba Art Gallery, Vancouver, February 9 – March 7, 2002.
Eastern Buddhism and Western ethics: An interview with Robert Florida
(Illumine, 2002) Bentheim, Steve
The differing Western ethical frameworks of Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan may reflect similar differences within Eastern Buddhism during the last 150 years, particularly on social concerns. Gilligan’s position to care for others first is more closely akin with the truth of Buddhism, according to Dr. Florida. In addition, the very sense of self is a different conception in Buddhism, contrasted with the more Western ideal of individualism. The interview describes how early Buddhism focused on its monastic society and showed little interest in direct social action, although it did offer ethical guidance to rulers and suggested Buddhist principles for bringing the social world more in line with the dharma. However, from roughly the 1850’s onward, Buddhists in Asia began to play a more active role in trying to change society. Robert E. Florida is Emeritus Fellow at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria. He was Professor of Religion and Dean of Arts at Brandon University. He researched at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, the East–West Centre at the University of Hawaii in Honolulun and Mahidol University in Bangkok.
Embracing the Divine: Devotional zeal and mystical “Humanation” in Rembrandt’s annunciation sketch
(Illumine, 2012) Nutting, Catherine M.
Rembrandt’s 17th–century sketches of radical religious transformation illuminate the inner workings of spiritual conviction and reveal the religious tone of Rembrandt’s society. But they also privilege psychology over narrative, and use emotionally charged gestures to elucidate human responses to divine presence. In particular, Rembrandt develops the symbol of the divine touch, which I argue parallels the 17th–century Dutch absorption in debates about the workings of God’s grace. The symbolic physical closeness that characterises Rembrandt’s Old and New Testament subjects is grounded in the Reformation emphasis on personally knowing a magnanimous God, which is in turn rooted in concepts of the mystical marriage between God and “saved humanity,” themes that underlie Rembrandt’s unusual Annunciation sketch.
Ephemeral identity in Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach
(Illumine, 2011) Purhar, Sonu
Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach addresses issues related to race, historic oppression, and the clash between cultures in a coming-of-age ghost story set in the Haisla community of Kitimaat, British Columbia. Literary scholars have discussed the difficulty of the novel’s heroine, Lisamarie Hill, in reconciling her First Nations and West Coast identities, particularly when she acquires the unique ability to converse with the spirit world; however, the implications of this ability within both her inherited and adopted cultures have largely been ignored. In the context of her Haisla heritage Lisamarie’s powers are shamanistic, imbuing her with great responsibility and control within her band’s society–yet she cannot embrace her gift within the contemporary Eurocentric society that refuses to accept its existence. Though Lisamarie eventually gains control over her powers, the historic and continued oppression of her culture by West Coast society challenges her capability to maintain this connection in the modern world.
Ethnic tensions between the Han and the Hui: The Neo-Sufi Jahriyya movement of Ma Hua Long of the Late Qing period (1862-1871)
(Illumine, 2010) Ching, Calvin
The historical study into the tensions of the late Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) between the Han and the Hui serves as a way to understand ethnic conflict in modern-day China. With an emphasis on the ideological and cultural differences between Islam and Confucianism, this paper will attempt to place the Neo-Sufi Jahriyyah movement of Ma Hua Long (d. 1871) into the historical framework of a deteriorating Qing Dynasty. Studies in this area have been challenging due to the paucity of resources on the subject and the tendency of mainstream academics during the time of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution in China to favour the application of Marxist theory to the historiography of Qing Dynasty China. A more in-depth analysis is therefore required before one can start to uncover a more complete picture of the ethnic, religious, and political aspects of the rebellions.
From Christianity in China to Chinese Christianity: Missing history since 1583 and recent academic debates in English
(Illumine, 2003) Li, Hua
The history of Christianity in China can be roughly divided into four periods of growth, decline, revival, and indigenisation. After briefly reviewing each period of the history of Christianity in China, I will examine a variety of influential books written by western scholars of different perspectives, reveal their disparate or even contradictory points of view, and evaluate their effectiveness in examining the three phases of the Christian presence in China: accommodation, inculturation, and indigenisation. As the historical evidence presented by these authors develops from a discussion of the introduced presence of Christianity in China to a look at indigenised Chinese Christianity, I will try to find the voids, biases and omissions, and conclude by indicating the possible directions which, I believe, scholarship should take to provide a more complete picture of the history of Christianity in China.
God meditating on the worm: Order, religion and science among Mexican intellectuals in the early republic
(Illumine, 2004) Westgard, Clint
Following the establishment of the new nation in 1821 the Mexican elite sought to shape the form it would take, as well as the role they and others would have in it. Fundamental to understanding how they went about this and what led them to the decisions they made is an investigation of the underlying beliefs that formed their view of the world. By looking at the interactions of religious and scientific belief in the works of two Mexican intellectuals of the first half of the nineteenth century, Luis de la Rosa and Tadeo Ortiz, I illustrate the way in which religious and scientific understandings of the world reinforced each other and were in many ways inseparable for the Mexican elite. This is because of their conception of the universe as an ordered entity, with laws that could be discerned and applied to society. What order specifically meant for the Mexican elite had large implications for the way in which they imagined the nation.

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