[Author’s Note: My personal encounter with Mary Daly, a U.S. post-Christian feminist thinker, goes back to 1994, if not earlier. I stayed in Korea from 1994-1997 during which I translated two of Mary Daly’s early books, Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation 하나님 아버지를 넘어서 (Seoul: Ewha Women’s University Press, 1996) and Church and the Second Sex 교회와 제 2의 성 (Seoul: Women’s News Press, 1997) in Korean. I carried with me to the U.S.A. our correspondences in the form of letters and documents mostly faxed to each other for the period of more than two decades. Later at one point I digitized them in images. Through these memoir series, I share some highlights of my memories with Mary Daly, her influence on my feminist thinking, and my own radical feminist journey to Magoist Cetaceanism.]
I am back-tracking her letters earlier than the one (September 23, 1996) that I previously shared (see Part 4). Below is Mary’s FAXed letter on September 10, 1996. In the first paragraph, she says that she was sending along the German contract that she used for her book, Outercourse, to give me an idea about the contract that I or the publisher (Ewha Women’s University Press) would be using. However, she did not know that I had already mailed my own contract to her. Apparently, she did not receive it yet. The following day, September 11, Mary FAXed me her brief letter acknowledging not only that she received it but also that she had sent her German contract without knowing, which I shared at the end. This indicates that Mary and I exchanged accurate and comprehensive communications.
The next paragraph of her letter is a response to my questions concerning my translation of Beyond God the Father (BGTF). I had asked her about two terms, Redstockings and entelechy. As I reread this letter shown below, I re-realize the depth of our connections. We both knew making money was no primary concern for my translation projects. And she says:
I don’t think it would be realistic to be too concerned about making money in this case. The point would be to get the word out in Korea.
For me, there were other reasons why I chose to translate her books. Getting the word out to Korean women was one reason. I wanted to introduce Mary Daly’s Radical Feminist Thought to Korean feminists. Because I did not have any direct contact with Korean feminists at that time in particular, however, I had no idea who would read and cherish them. Then, what are other reasons for my translation of her books? I did it for myself, for Korean feminists, and for Mary. This tripartite purpose was, like the three legs of a tripod, equally important for me. I wanted to learn more about her feminist thoughts and the English language. I learned the written English language by reading and translating Mary Daly’s books. However it would have been, I trusted that my translation of her books would help her. Our friendship thereafter throughout the years proved so. I wasn’t aware at this point, however, what Mary had gone through in terms of “accusations of racism and scapegoating of Feminists” in the late 1970s and the 1980s [See Gina Messina, “Mary Daly’s Letter to Audre Lorde” in Feminism and Religion (October 5, 2011). https://feminismandreligion.com/2011/10/05/mary-dalys-letter-to-audre-lorde/.] that she mentioned in this letter. She writes:
About the horrors of white western society, I agree completely. Within this context, not only racism itself but accusations of racism and scapegoating of Feminists have been used to kill the Feminist movement. Old stuff–divide and conquer! And the women do it to each other.
The fact that I was neither a white woman nor a black woman shielded me from the whirl of the racial division in the U.S. and the world as a whole even about 2 decades later. Mary was definitely triggered in her wounds by my arrival to her world. Respectfully, she took my arrival positively and did not drag me into the abyss of feminist patriarchal-behaviors. On a few occasions, I broached up the topic of “Third World Feminism” in our conversations in the forthcoming years. On a couple of phone conversations, Mary reacted so bitterly and strongly that her acute pain flew and landed on my heart (in the late 1990s and the early 2000s). Nonetheless, I kept my neutral position on this topic throughout the years. It was neither my immediate concern nor my direct experience.
I came to Mary Daly not because I shared some immediate similarities with her or her friends. I was a Korean native and did not share U.S. identity. She had an understanding that I had a cross-cultural experience of living, studying and working in Korea, the U.S. and the Philippines, which was central in my formation of a (feminist) personhood.
Mary emphasized me, when it comes to “the experience of isolation.” My experience was a different one but we both knew what that was like. The more I got to know her on a personal level, the more clearly I sensed the degree of her experience of being isolated. It came from her Western culture and upbringing in my humble opinion. What disillusioned me was not just Christianity, my religion from age 18 to 32, but also white western culture. Mary phrased it as “the horrors of white western society,” but what I meant is white western culture per se. I was so tired of dualism grounded in the very thinking of people in the West.
I must have asked Mary that I was seeking a graduate school in the U.S. for me to study post-Christian feminism. At this time, my plan to enroll in a graduate school in Los Angeles, California, proved to be a failure due to the school’s misguidance of my process. So I confided in Mary about my need of finding a school in which I could study radical feminist theology and ultimately East Asian/Korean religions. Mary was mentioning two women in her letter to whom I may like to contact. And I did contact them but was likely that I heard nothing or an unimpressive response from them. She repeatedly told me that she was “cut off from that world.” I could only guess that Mary was not popular among feminist academics regardless. Mary was my mentor, although she or I had never mentioned the term to each other, and I accepted that my mentor was isolated from the world of feminist academics. She writes:
I wish I could give you advice about graduate schools and financial aid over here. I am quite cut off from that world at this time, however. One suggestion is that you write to Professor Judith James, Dept. of English, U. of South Carolina at Columbia, SC. and ask for materials and advice. Another consideration would be Constance Buchanan at Harvard Divinity School, 46 Francis Ave., Cambridge, MA. 02138. I would explain my predicament to both, and see where this leads.
Then, Mary, using the notion of entelechy that she just explained to me above, prophesied. With my entelechy, I was about to take my first steps as a radical feminist and discovered my Final Cause soon during the early years of my graduate studies. I encountered the topic of Mago, the Creatrix, in 2000 and have moved onward since then. When she wrote this letter, I did not choose a graduate school to apply to yet. And Mary was right, I was provided with everything that I needed throughout the years to this day.
I am thankful for your deep appreciation of my work, and understanding the experience of isolation, which is extreme in your case. Just keep going with your “entelechy,” your Final Cause. Everything you need will come to you.
She knew how much I appreciated her work and that I had no one around me who can guide me or talk to about the feminist academic path that I was going to embark. Below is Mary’s entire letter:
Corres. Sept. ’96
Mary Daly
55A Norwood Ave
Newton Centre, MA 02159
Sept. 10, ’96
Dear Hye Sook:
I will try to respond to your requests.
In regard to contract format–I am sending along a copy of the German contract for Outercourse. All contracts are different; this will just give you an idea. I don’t think it would be realistic to be too concerned about making money in this case. The point would be to get the word out in Korea.
Regarding “Redstockings,” this was an activist women’s liberation group in the late 1960s, located in New York. As for entelechy, this is an Aristotelian word. It is explained in the following sentence on p. 189 of BGTF as “an indwelling of the goal as yet unattained, but unfolding itself.”
I have the impression that you understand my work and I am not worried about the translation. Go ahead!
I wish I could give you advice about graduate schools and financial aid over here. I am quite cut off from that world at this time, however. One suggestion is that you write to Professor Judith James, Dept. of English, U. of South Carolina at Columbia, SC. and ask for materials and advice. Another consideration would be Constance Buchanan at Harvard Divinity School, 46 Francis Ave., Cambridge, MA. 02138. I would explain my predicament to both, and see where this leads.
About the horrors of white western society, I agree completely. Within this context, not only racism itself but accusations of racism and scapegoating of Feminists have been used to kill the Feminist movement. Old stuff–divide and conquer! And the women do it to each other.
I am thankful for your deep appreciation of my work, and understanding the experience of isolation, which is extreme in your case. Just keep going with your “entelechy,” your Final Cause. Everything you need will come to you.
Please understand that I am beset with deadlines and with the necessity to finish his book by next September. My piles of unanswered letters feel like a weight of guilt, but my priority must be to write…fast. So excuse my slowness in responding, please.
In Sisterhood,
[Handwritten] Mary
The following day, Sept. 11, 1996, she FAXed me a brief hand-written cover letter followed by her signed contract. I had mailed her the contract for the Korean translation of Beyond God the Father the day before.
Mary Daly
55A Norwood Ave.
Newton Centre, MA 02159
[Handwritten hereafter] Sept. 11, 96
Dear Hye Sook,
Enclosed is signed contact, which I rec’d today. Good job! Congratulations! I FAXed you last night w. copy of a German Contract, which is now irrelevant, I [xxx illegible to the author]. Please let me know if you got my FAX.
In Sisterhood and in haste,
Mary
(To be continued)