One more step for the Women’s Movement

The Women’s Movement has achieved a great deal.There is still one step left, however – addressing the archetypes, symbols and language through which ideas about women are expressed. There is still an inclination to categorise women as angels, virgins, mothers, sirens and so on. Where are the wise women I wondered – the philosophers, artists, teachers and magicians? Witches were once wise, but later demonised. Wizards, however, retain their wisdom.

 Wisdom and Wildnessis a book of poetry with chapters on Sophia, Lilith, Eve and The Triple Goddess. Each chapter is illustrated with an original art work by Perth women artists.

Mythology has been the means of ascribing religious, cultural, symbolic, historical and psychological significance to human existence since its very beginnings. The structures, conventions and perspectives within this significance have been mainly masculine.  A space for the feminine has to be either discovered or invented – or perhaps rediscovered. It is time to reclaim and to reassess some of that space, and to take the next step. To do this, women writers (and some men) are re-mediating the signifying systems of mythology. In doing this it may even be possible to negotiate a space which exists beyond either difference or equality – a transcendence of all oppositions.  By looking at some of the significance surrounding the Eden myth in a different way this book is a small attempt at participating in this transcendence. 

 To achieve this I decided to begin at the beginning – with Eve – to go back to where all the problems and misunderstandings began.  It seemed that Eve was not a wicked temptress, but a wise woman who probably annoyed God and Adam, and a whole lot of men throughout history by asking too many questions, and by refusing to obey orders! The writing is light hearted in tone, but with a serious message about women’s history. It combines academic research with creative writing.

Jan Altmann has a Ph.D in Comparative Literature.  She spent many years teaching English, Literature, Art History, Art Theory, Women’s Studies and Cultural Studies.  She has written many art reviews and catalogue essays, and has co-authored a book on Western Australian women’s art of the colonial era entitled Out of the Sitting Room: Western Australian Women’s Art 1829-1914

Available from:       The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, UWA

                                    Old Bakery Gallery, 42 Eighth Ave, Maylands

                                    cjaltmann@optusnet.com.au