The Importance of Religion and Spirituality in Feminist Science Fiction Literature

Abstract

The present study explores the role of religion and spirituality in feminist visions of the future. The focus of the thesis is the point where feminist alternative realities intersect with spirituality and religion based on the novels; the Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk and the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. The study examines the power of religion, how it controls and oppresses lives and its relationship with the state and individuals in relation to Margaret Atwood's novel the Handmaid's Tale. On the other hand, I explore how religion and spirituality could be a powerful tool to provide a peaceful and diverse society in terms of gender and sexuality as well as to provide environmental sustainability through Starhawk's novel the Fifth Sacred Thing. In the study, through analysing the religious aspects in those two novels, I question the importance of religion and spirituality in feminist science fiction, more precisely, in feminist utopian/dystopian literature.