Price: $34.95
Page Count: 312
Publication Date: May 2013
ISBN: 978-1-927335-12-3
“This innovative anthology—a combination of essay, poetry, memoir, reflection —complicates the categories of both Mennonite and Mother. By offering multivaried positions from which to consider the concept of mother, Mothering Mennonite adds depth to common conceptions of Mennonite identity while also undoing stereotypes which surround mothering in that context. Together, the contributions offer an important glimpse into the intersection of gender, religion, culture, and identity.”
—Marlene Epp, Professor, History and Peace & Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel University College,University of Waterloo
“A beautiful, intelligent, spiritually rich, intimate, and scholarly collection of essays drawing on various disciplines. In its breadth and depth, this collection meets a need for mothers like myself who live with the tension of being independent, thinking, artistic mothers who live to varying degrees within a conservative religious community, and/or were, in their youth, shaped by strongly held religious beliefs, practices, and values. This book makes an important contribution to the larger field of Motherhood and Spirituality.”
—Alana Rub en Free, playwright, Beginner at Life and other Eden Plays, and founding editor of The Mom Egg
Mothering Mennonite - Review - Rhubarb - Fall 2014
Mothering Mennonite: A Book Review | Mennonite Church USA
Mothering Mennonite: A Book Review | Faith Bytes: Elsie Spins a Blog
Review of Mothering Mennonite by Di Brandt | Directions
Mothers: Carriers of culture and faith | Canadian Mennonite Magazine
Book Review: Mothering Mennonite | The Femonite: Musings from a Mennonite Feminist
Book Review: Mothering Mennonite | Mennonite Voices: Women in Leadership
INTRODUCTION: Mothering Mennonite and Mennonite Mothering
- Kerry Fast and Rachel Epp Buller
I. PICTURING MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS
Picturing My Mother: The Looking Glass Revisited - Magdalene Redekop
The Elusive Dancing Mother: Reflections on Hossack’s Mennonites Don’t Dance
- Edna Froese
“Eking out a Discursive Space”: Ideas for Life - Mary Ann Loewen
Milk - Kirsten Eve Beachy
II. MOTHERING ACROSS GENERATIONS
A Selection from An Inheritance of Words, Unspoken - Connie T. Braun
Mimicking Maternal Gestures: Women’s Memories, Narratives, and Intergenerational Identities - Susie Fisher Stoesz
Who’s Cooking the Borscht: A Perspective on Social Identity - Gladys Loewen, William Loewen, Sharon Loewen Shepherd, and DJ Pauls
“Home” schooling - Wendy A. Crocker
III. CHALLENGING MENNONITE MOTHERHOOD
“Single Sisters” and Occupations: Singlehood in a Conservative Mennonite Community
- Tomomi Naka
Creative (M)othering: An Invitation from a Childless Artist - Becca J.R. Lachman
(In)fertile Encounters: An Autoethnographic Account of Infertility Narratives Experienced on a Journey Toward Mennonite Motherhood - Christine E. Crouse-Dick
IV. MOTHERING IN AND AROUND CULTURE(S)
“Tirelessly working to dispense her own wisdom”: A History of Mennonite Mothers and Scientific Motherhood - Tracey Leigh Dowdeswell
Evangelicalism’s Impact on the Role of Beachy Amish-Mennonite Mothers
- Cory Anderson
Mothering, More With Less - Melanie Springer Mock
“I always played restaurant”: Mennonite Childhood Play as Anticipation/Antithesis of Motherhood
- Doreen Helen Klassen
From Persecution to Hope: Mennonite Mothering in a Context of Violence
- Jennifer Chappell Deckert
CONTRIBUTOR NOTES
Rachel Epp Buller (editor) weaves together personal and professional interests in her art and scholarship on mothering, the maternal body, mothering in academia, and Mennonite heritage. Her writing appears in many journals and books, including Woman’s Art Journal, Mothering in the Third Wave (2008), and Academic Motherhood in a Post-Second Wave Context (2012). Her exhibitions and curatorial projects highlight diverse themes of mothering, as does her newest book, Reconciling Art and Mothering (2012). She holds a PhD in art history and is Assistant Professor of Art at Bethel College.
Kerry Fast (editor) is a freelance editor, writer and researcher. She has published both academically and creatively. Her writings appear in The Journal of Mennonite Studies and Rhubarb. Her primary research interest is conservative colony Mennonites in Latin America, their migrations to Canada and the effect this has on their religious lives. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto.
