Jesus in Our Wombs: Embodying Modernity in a Mexican Convent (Ethnographic Studies in Subjectivity)

In Jesus in Our Wombs, Rebecca J. Lester takes us behind the walls of a Roman Catholic convent in central Mexico to explore the lives, training, and experiences of a group of postulants--young women in the first stage of religious training as nuns. Lester, who conducted eighteen months of fieldwork in the convent, provides a rich ethnography of these young women's journeys as they wrestle with doubts, fears, ambitions, and setbacks in their struggle to follow what they believe to be the will of God. Gracefully written, finely textured, and theoretically rigorous, this book considers how these aspiring nuns learn to experience God by cultivating an altered experience of their own female bodies, a transformation they view as a political stance against modernity. Lester explains that the Postulants work toward what they see as an "authentic" femininity--one that has been eclipsed by the values of modern society. The outcome of this process has political as well as personal consequences. The Sisters learn to understand their very intimate experiences of "the Call"--and their choices in answering it--as politically relevant declarations of self. Readers become intimately acquainted with the personalities, family backgrounds, friendships, and aspirations of the Postulants as Lester relates the practices and experiences of their daily lives. Combining compassionate, engaged ethnography with an incisive and provocative theoretical analysis of embodied selves, Jesus in Our Wombs delivers a profound analysis of what Lester calls the convent's "technology of embodiment" on multiple levels--from the phenomenological to the political. List of Illustrations......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 Part One: Contexts......Page 46 1 Female Bodies and the Touch of God......Page 48 2 The Siervas......Page 63 3 Religious Formation......Page 80 Part Two: Becoming Women in Christ......Page 108 4 Brokenness: Restless in My Own Skin......Page 110 5 Belonging: Sisters in Arms......Page 126 6 Containment: Producing the Interior......Page 147 7 Regimentation: Making the Mindful Body......Page 176 8 Self-Critique: Diagnosing the Soul......Page 195 9 Surrender: Turning It Over to God......Page 208 10 Re/Collection: The Temporal Contours of the Self......Page 225 11 Changing the Subject: Transformations......Page 244 Part Three: Articulations......Page 278 12 Mexican Modernities......Page 280 13 Bodies and Selves: Theorizing Embodiment......Page 318 Appendix: Glossary of Catholic Terms and Selected Central Prayers......Page 324 References......Page 330 Index......Page 346 1. Female Bodies And The Touch Of God -- 2. The Siervas -- 3. Religious Formation -- 4. Brokenness : Restless In My Own Skin -- 5. Belonging : Sisters In Arms -- 6. Containment : Producing The Interior -- 7. Regimentation : Making The Mindful Body -- 8. Self-critique : Diagnosing The Soul -- 9. Surrender : Turning It Over To God -- 10. Re/collection : The Temporal Contours Of The Self -- 11. Changing The Subject : Transformations -- 12. Mexican Modernities -- 13. Bodies And Selves : Theorizing Embodiment -- App. Glossary Of Catholic Terms And Selected Central Prayers. Rebecca J. Lester. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 315-329) And Index. In Jesus in Our Wombs, Rebecca J. Lester takes us behind the walls of a Roman Catholic convent in central Mexico to explore the lives, training, and experiences of a group of postulants - young women in the first stage of religious training as nuns. Lester, who conducted eighteen months of fieldwork in the convent, provides a rich ethnography of these young women's journeys as they wrestle with doubts, fears, ambitions, and setbacks in their struggle to follow what they believe to be the will of God In medieval Europe, nunneries like the one I spent time in were believed to be special crucibles for the struggle between good and evil, a savage war waged in and through the medium of female flesh.