| Summary: | The aim of this study is to explore how subaltern portraits of motherhood can contribute to the theology of motherhood. The study explores which existential issues are brought to light by motherhood in the characters Ristin, Lise and Sandra in the Sami novel Aednan by the author Linnea Axelsson. Furthermore, it examines how an analysis based on the characters’ experience can contribute to theology of motherhood. The theoretical approach consists of a combined definition of life views, together with postcolonial understandings of the subaltern. I perform close readings of three selected chapters based on a hermeneutic of difference, which strives to seek the unconventional in the studied text and is incorporated into five questions, developed for studies on life views in poetic texts. The analysis highlights existential issues such as care and nonverbal communication. Ristin shows the ambivalent relationship between care and anxiousness. She needs to defend her children from external threats, which in addition to initiating care brings despair. In Lise’s motherhood, language and marginalization appears as important issues. Language deprivation isolates Lise from her surroundings as well as from her daughter. It ends as a difficult experience with feelings of shame. In this way, motherhood can bring awareness to the relationship to oneself and other people. Sandra depicts the subaltern’s difficulties of not being heard in the political fight for Sami rights. Aednan explores the subaltern’s potential for resistance through nonverbal communication. The traditional Sami garment and silence appear as helpful instruments to convey experience. In the final discussion I argue that motherhood does not necessarily indicate vulnerability as previous studies in theology of motherhood have shown. The subaltern experiences of motherhood might be challenging, but also involve resistance and meaning. Motherhood confronts Ristin, Lise and Sandra with new difficult situations. However, it is not a new reality that appears. Their ...
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