Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: Religion, Art, and Feminism

Anglican Theological Review, Summer 1999 by Tamayo, Sarita

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: Religion, Art, and Feminism. By Pamela Kirk. New York: Continuum, 1998. 180 pp. $34.50 (cloth).

In Sor Juana Inms de la Cruz, Pamela Kirk interprets the work of the famous Mexican nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz ( 1695) from a feminist perspective for three groups: literary scholars, theologians and a lay audience. To do so, Kirk exegetes excerpts from the nun's prose, poetry and plays. Kirk considers both the literary form as well as the theological content, thus elegantly providing the reader with a well-balanced analysis of works which do not fit into precise categories. In addition, she takes her analysis a step further by linking Sor Juana's historical context to her writings. This contextualization deepens the reader's understanding of the works by clarifying what might otherwise be obscure references to Aztec mythology, conflicts between Spanish and indigenous cultures, and the baroque politics of the Catholic church in New Spain. Finally, Kirk demonstrates the way in which Sor Juana anticipated many contemporary feminist issues such as the critique of patriarchy, the struggle for equality between men and women, and women's authority to teach on theological matters. Kirk's work is a fine example of historical theology and seamlessly presents the intersections between the institutions of Church and State, creativity, gender and society.

Chapters one through seven provide the reader with historical and biographical background and present interpretations of some of Sor Juana's works. Throughout these chapters, Kirk strives to demonstrate Sor Juana's awareness of the moral ambiguity of the parallel movements of Spanish evangelization and conquest of the New World. Sor Juana employs metaphors, mythology, and hagiographies to mask a moral critique of Church and State that simultaneously educates her audience about religious matters such as the Incarnation.

The heart of the book can be found in chapters eight through ten. In the previous seven chapters, the reader can see how Sor Juana's concerns are similar to those of contemporary feminists, but in these last three chapters these concerns emerge forcefully and clearly because the works analyzed directly challenge and formulate Sor Juana's right to teach on religious matters and pursue intellectual activities. In this section, Kirk analyzes the rhetorical devices Sor Juana uses to attempt to erase the differences between men and women as intellectual beings as well as to argue for a woman's right to pursue intellectual activities. Sor Juana's brilliance leaps from the page while Kirk's analysis heightens the reader's painful awareness of the nun's precarious position as an intellectual woman in seventeenth-century New Spain. Unfortunately, the lack of a real conclusion that ties together all the important points of the book leaves the reader wishing for more at the end.

Similar to Alison Weber's fine book on Teresa of Avila, Kirk's book will be very useful for scholars of literature, history, spirituality and theology. Immensely readable, this book fills an important gap that was present in theological scholarship on Sor Juana in English. Experts and non-experts alike will benefit from this work.

SARITA TOMAYO

University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois