A better place? : gender, power, and ideology in Revelation's dys/utopia

Abstract

Utilizing a dystopic and utopic framework for reading the gender, power, and ideology embedded within the imagery of Revelation, this paper will demonstrate the ways in which John's apocalypse arises, like all utopias and dystopias, out of the author' s particular perceptions of the existing social ills within his particular socio-historical context. In order to demonstrate this particularity, the narrative and rhetorical functions of the 144,000 utopian male bodies, the dystopian ambiguity surrounding the Whore of Babylon, and the passive femininity inscribed within the Bridel/New Jerusalem will be highlighted as a way of placing some critical distance between John's utopian and dystopian imaginaries and our own. In so doing, a new interpretive strategy will be proposed that paves the way for readers to critically the strengths and weaknesses of John's utopian imaginary and to re-imagine a utopia that critiques and works to correct the social and political shortcomings of contemporary communities.