ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the work of the contemporary European philosopher Julia Kristeva, with specific reference to those writings of most interest to scholars of theology and religion. Since Desire in Language, Kristeva has published over 25 books, including numerous novels, articles and plays. Kristeva writes on the role of religion, specifically Catholicism, in shaping the identity of people in the West, and how religion effects and affects how people engage with words and ideas. Kristeva argues that psychoanalysis frequently replaces religion in European cultures and that it is the dominant origin of theories about the formation of subject identity. One of the most important topics Kristeva has written on at length is the concept and role of the maternal. Her discussion of the maternal and the role of the mother is one of the most controversial elements of her work. Mysticism, specifically female mysticism, is the religious and theological theme that repeatedly emerges in Kristeva’s work.
