Sinful, Sexual and Sometimes Smelly: Representations of Ethiopians, Women, and Ethiopian Women in Early Acetic Christian Literature
Graduation Date
Fall 2011
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
First Reader
Henry Shreibman, PhD
Second Reader
Jennifer Lucko, PhD
Abstract
Drawing particularly upon scholarship conducted by Gay L. Byron and David Brakke, this thesis examines English translations of early ascetic Christian literature and supplemental secondary sources in order to support four assertions. First, early ascetic Christians defined themselves by renunciation of sin in general and by celibacy in particular. Second, in literature by and about the early ascetic Christians, Ethiopians, women, and Ethiopian women are represented as particularly sinful and sexual. Third, these stereotypical representations of Ethiopians, women, and Ethiopian women as sinful and sexual served to define the ascetic Christians as virtuous and celibate. Fourth, when the stereotypes related to Ethiopians and women are present in one type of character - an Ethiopian woman - they are particularly potent, and depictions of Ethiopian women are consequently often especially vituperative. This thesis concludes by urging the academic community to investigate ascetic characterizations of Ethiopian women and to pay particular attention to the voices of contemporary Ethiopian women speaking on the topic.