Jody’s talk is called “The Beautiful Fruits of Barrenness”
Most of the synonyms for barren begin with “un”—indicating not what it is, but what it is not: unfertile, unproductive, unfruitful. Or they are adjectives like empty, arid, sterile, desolate, indicating a lack of value. But what are we missing when we define barrenness only in terms of what it is not? Ann Zwinger tells us that to see the beauty of the tundra, the seemingly lifeless areas of the cold high places in the world, “takes close looking, a scaling down of anticipations . . . a getting down on hands and knees—or even stomach—to examine.” In her presentation, Jody Gentian Bower will take a close look at barrenness, arguing that not only can it be a thing of beauty in itself, but may enable different and innovative ways of being creative and nurturing.
About Jody
Jody Gentian Bower, PhD, is a cultural mythologist and the author of “Jane Eyre’s Sisters: How Women Live and Write the Heroine Story” and “The Princess Powers Up: Watching the Sleeping Beauties Become Warrior Goddesses.” She has lectured widely over the past decade about hero and heroine stories, and blogs about myths and archetypes in popular culture at jodybower.com. She is currently at work on a book about barrenness as well as a work of historical fiction based on a family legend.
To hear Jody’s talk and many others, join us at the Mythologium!
The Mythologium is a conference and retreat for mythologists and friends of myth, held July 30 – Aug 1 via Zoom. Register here!