Holy Names University congratulates Sophia Park, SNJM, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Philosophy, on the publication of her first book, A Hermeneutic on Dislocation as Experience: Creating a Borderland, Constructing a Hybrid Identity. Sr. Park’s research interests include Asian women’s spirituality, Korean Shamanism, biblical spirituality, religious life from a post-colonial and global feminist perspective.
From the publisher:
Dislocation, which involves moving from a familiar place to an unknown place, is a common experience in this era of globalization yet it can cause a deep sense of alienation – people feel invisible, voiceless, and anonymous. A Hermeneutic on Dislocation as Experience: Creating a Borderland, Constructing a Hybrid Identity employs socio-rhetorical criticism from a postcolonial perspective, providing a hermeneutic on the experience of dislocation from the perspective of Asian immigrant women. The author’s focus on Asian immigrant women’s spirituality is interwoven with different texts such as the story of a woman caught in adultery (Jn. 7: 53-8:11), Asian immigrant women’s stories in the novels Dictee and Crossings, and stories of Korean shamans encountered in the author’s ethnographic fieldwork.
This book suggests that people who experience dislocation can create a borderland where their own marginality gains power and voice. In that borderland, they are able to construct a hybrid identity as a result of deep engagement with one another. In particular, the author’s fieldwork on Korean shamans reveals how the shamanic ritual itself functions as a borderland, wherein the marginalized Korean shamans gain hybrid identity. A Hermeneutic on Dislocation as Experience is a valuable resource for classes in Asian studies, ethnography, cultural anthropology, biblical spirituality, women’s spirituality, and interdisciplinary courses.
Sr. Park is currently preparing her upcoming book, Body Ritual in Asian Religions.
Jung Eun Sophia Park
A Hermeneutic on Dislocation as Experience
Creating a Borderland, Constructing a Hybrid Identity
Series: Studies in Biblical Literature – Volume 146
Publisher: Peter Lang
Year of Publication: 2011
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien, 2012. VIII, 137 pp.
ISBN 978-1-4331-1594-3 hb.
ISBN 978-1-4539-0190-8 (eBook)
