Reconfiguring Gender in the Self-Baptism of Thecla

Presented at the 2012, Inaugural Graduate Theological Union Women’s Studies in Religion
Student Conference
Berkeley, CA

Abstract:

The primary objective of this essay is to interpret Thecla’s self-baptism in The Acts of
Thecla (ATh) as gender performance. This interpretation develops in two stages: (1) setting
Thecla’s self-baptism within a liminal phase of ritual performance per Victor Turner’s model of
ritual process; (2) defining that liminal phase as a kind of discursive practice wherein Thecla
attempts to render a new gender identity by reshaping the contours of her body. To conclude, I
will argue that Thecla’s ritual self-baptism produces a fragile theoretical space wherein she
articulates a new religious identity by reconfiguring her public gendered self.

Philip Erwin
Doctoral Student
Biblical Studies, New Testament
Graduate Theological Union