Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth : An Ecofeminist Reading of Isaiah 51:1-52:6 and Tracy Chapman's Song "The Rape of the World"
This article compares the personification of Zion in Isaiah 51:1–52:6 as a mother and daughter with Tracy Chapman’s 1995 song “The Rape of the World”, where the earth is personified as a mother. These works share the power of metaphor in prophecy, poetry, and song to provoke political and social...
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Karl Franzens Universität Graz
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Journal for Religion, Film and Media |
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| Online Access: | https://unipub.uni-graz.at/jrfm/periodical/titleinfo/5544322 |
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doaj-22150a0080c44e1fb990b3123d1b2b642020-11-25T04:00:16ZengKarl Franzens Universität GrazJournal for Religion, Film and Media2414-02012020-06-0162213310.25364/05.6:2020.2.2 Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth : An Ecofeminist Reading of Isaiah 51:1-52:6 and Tracy Chapman's Song "The Rape of the World"Sawyer, Angela Sue0Universität GrazThis article compares the personification of Zion in Isaiah 51:1–52:6 as a mother and daughter with Tracy Chapman’s 1995 song “The Rape of the World”, where the earth is personified as a mother. These works share the power of metaphor in prophecy, poetry, and song to provoke political and social activism in multiple areas of injustice, using rape imagery in different ways. Both pieces portray the negative effects of human activity on the earth, whether by commercial activity or war. The environmental impact of the desolation of the earth during the Babylonian exile depicted in Deutero-Isaiah is viewed through the lens of ecological criticism. The earth itself has a voice in both Chapman’s and Isaiah’s words.https://unipub.uni-graz.at/jrfm/periodical/titleinfo/5544322ecological criticismecofeminismziondeutero-isaiahtracy chapmanrapepolitical activismpop musicpersonification |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
English |
| format |
Article |
| sources |
DOAJ |
| author |
Sawyer, Angela Sue |
| spellingShingle |
Sawyer, Angela Sue Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth : An Ecofeminist Reading of Isaiah 51:1-52:6 and Tracy Chapman's Song "The Rape of the World" Journal for Religion, Film and Media ecological criticism ecofeminism zion deutero-isaiah tracy chapman rape political activism pop music personification |
| author_facet |
Sawyer, Angela Sue |
| author_sort |
Sawyer, Angela Sue |
| title |
Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth : An Ecofeminist Reading of Isaiah 51:1-52:6 and Tracy Chapman's Song "The Rape of the World" |
| title_short |
Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth : An Ecofeminist Reading of Isaiah 51:1-52:6 and Tracy Chapman's Song "The Rape of the World" |
| title_full |
Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth : An Ecofeminist Reading of Isaiah 51:1-52:6 and Tracy Chapman's Song "The Rape of the World" |
| title_fullStr |
Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth : An Ecofeminist Reading of Isaiah 51:1-52:6 and Tracy Chapman's Song "The Rape of the World" |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth : An Ecofeminist Reading of Isaiah 51:1-52:6 and Tracy Chapman's Song "The Rape of the World" |
| title_sort |
comfort the waste places, defend the violated earth : an ecofeminist reading of isaiah 51:1-52:6 and tracy chapman's song "the rape of the world" |
| publisher |
Karl Franzens Universität Graz |
| series |
Journal for Religion, Film and Media |
| issn |
2414-0201 |
| publishDate |
2020-06-01 |
| description |
This article compares the personification of Zion in Isaiah 51:1–52:6 as a mother and
daughter with Tracy Chapman’s 1995 song “The Rape of the World”, where the earth
is personified as a mother. These works share the power of metaphor in prophecy,
poetry, and song to provoke political and social activism in multiple areas of injustice,
using rape imagery in different ways. Both pieces portray the negative effects of human
activity on the earth, whether by commercial activity or war. The environmental
impact of the desolation of the earth during the Babylonian exile depicted in Deutero-Isaiah
is viewed through the lens of ecological criticism. The earth itself has a voice in
both Chapman’s and Isaiah’s words. |
| topic |
ecological criticism ecofeminism zion deutero-isaiah tracy chapman rape political activism pop music personification |
| url |
https://unipub.uni-graz.at/jrfm/periodical/titleinfo/5544322 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT sawyerangelasue comfortthewasteplacesdefendtheviolatedearthanecofeministreadingofisaiah511526andtracychapmanssongtherapeoftheworld |
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