Redeeming beauty? Christa and the displacement of women's bodies in theological aesthetic discourses

Abstract

This article adopts Edwina Sandys' Christa as a hermeneutical lens through which to expose new dimensions about the interplay between aesthetics and redemption in the Christian tradition. Contemporary theological aesthetic discourses have ignored ugliness and its causes, especially the patriarchal ways in which Christian tradition has been used to sanctify violence against women. The issue of gender injustice takes on a heightened significance in light of recent claims surrounding the beauty of the cross. As a subversive aesthetic feminist representation, Christa exposes the patriarchal dimensions of such constructions and calls for a new vision of aesthetics-one that begins with women's experiences of suffering and salvation. © The Author(s) 2012.