The Terrestrial Iraqi Maryam: Our Lady of Strength? A Feminist Mariological Study of Antoon’s Ya Maryam/The Baghdad Eucharist

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2026

Abstract

This paper analyses Antoon’s Ya Maryam (2012) /The Baghdad Eucharist 2017 through a feminist theological lens with particular attention to Marian piety. Set against the backdrop of post-2003 sectarian violence in Iraq, The Baghdad Eucharist represents this horrific reality over the course of one day as experienced by a Catholic Iraqi family. Through the narrative’s engagement with sectarian violence, I argue that the literary depiction of Catholic devotion, particularly Marian piety, is rendered futile facing Christian Iraqis’ persecution. Drawing on feminist theology as its theoretical framework, this paper investigates the text’s religious iconoclasm amidst political unrest, questioning Catholic Christian convictions pertaining to Marian dogmas and gender essentialism, inter alia. I propose that through the text’s representation of an Iraqi Maryam, a polyvalent terrestrial figure is resurrected- someone who transcends the constructed religious boundaries and is ultimately represented as the savior of her people vis-à-vis the conventional celestial Mary and Jesus.

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