Feminism and spirituality in fantastic fiction: Contemporary women writers in Australia

• Fantasy criticism could pay more attention to differences in national literatures.
• For example, with regard to depictions of non-patriarchal religion or spirituality
• Australian women's fantasy differs from North American in this regard.
• The goddess side of feminist spirituality has had much less influence in Australia.
• This can be explained by different national feminisms and other social factors.

SynopsisIn this paper I argue that in Anglophone fantasy-writing depictions of feminist alternatives to patriarchal religion have been more varied than fantasy analysts acknowledge. Perhaps if critics based in the United States were to take more account of other national literatures, such differences would be recognized more often. Focusing on women authors since the 1990s, I demonstrate how in Australian fantasy there has been little sign of a celebration of ' the Goddess in imaginary goddess-and woman-led cultures. Arguably, this is largely due to the comparative absence in Australian feminist politics, culture and scholarship of the goddess side of spiritual feminism, which since the 1970s has had a significant impact in North America. I suggest in the paper that this absence can be explained by other differences of long standing between American and Australian feminism; by the impact also of post-Second Wave feminisms; as well as by other national differences.