Navigating Deep River

Description

In Navigating Deep River, Mark W. Dennis and Darren J. N. Middleton have curated a wide-ranging discussion of Shūsaku Endō's final novel, Deep River, in which four careworn Japanese tourists journey to India's holy Ganges in search of spiritual as well as existential renewal. Navigating Deep River evaluates and probes Endō's decades-long search to find the words to explain Transcendent Mystery, the difficult tension between faith and doubt, the purpose of spiritual journeys, and the challenges posed by the reality of religious pluralism in an increasingly diverse world. The contributors, including Van C. Gessel who translated Deep River into English in 1994, offer an engaged and patient exploration of this major text in world fiction, and this anthology promises to deepen academic appreciation for Endō, within and beyond the West.
Acknowledgments

Foreword: The Myths of Ganga
Julian Crandall Hollick

Introduction: A Novel We Have Loved
Mark W. Dennis and Darren J. N. Middleton

Part One: Historical and Comparative Approaches

1. Navigating Deep River through the Lens of Buddhist Thought
Mark W. Dennis

2. A Gaze Turned Inward: Perspectives from the Orient
Mini Chandran

3. Japan's Orient and Animal Theology in Endō Shūsaku's Deep River
Zhange Ni

4. Religion and Violence in Deep River
Ronald Green

5. Endō Shūsaku: The Long Road to the Deep River
Mark Williams

Part Two: Literary and Theological Approaches

6. Catholic Convergences in Deep River
Mark Bosco and Christopher Wachal

7. Shūsaku Endō and Flannery O'Connor on the Grotesque
Elizabeth Cameron Galbraith

8. From "Catholic" to "catholic": Arriving at Deep River
Maeri Megumi

9. Deep River as Endō's Book of Job: Gathering a Community of Sufferers at the Water's Edge
Van C. Gessel

10. Mitsuko, That's Me: Autobiographical Space in Endō Shūsaku's Final Novel
Justyna Weronika Kasza

11. Imagining India: Traversing Deep River with Enami and Ōtsu
P. A. George

12. Endō Shūsaku and Religious Pluralism
Emi Mase-Hasegawa

13. Endō Shūsaku's Process Panentheism
Darren J. N. Middleton

14. Japanese Sensibility, and Transcendence in Deep River
Dennis Hirota

Afterword: Deep and Wide: Tourists and Pilgrims in the Shallows
S. Brent Plate

For Further Reading
Contributors
Index

Sujets

• Japan
• Comparative religion

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438477985
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

Navigating Deep River
Navigating Deep River
New Perspectives on Shūsaku Endō’s Final Novel
EDITED BY
MARK W. DENNIS AND DARREN J. N. MIDDLETON
Cover design by Hugh Cowling.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2020 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dennis, Mark W., editor. | Middleton, Darren J. N., 1966– editor.
Title: Navigating Deep River : new perspectives on Shusaku Endo’s final novel / Mark W. Dennis and Darren J. N. Middleton.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019016745 | ISBN 9781438477978 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438477985 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Endō, Shūsaku, 1923–1996. Fukai kawa. | Endō, Shūsaku, 1923–1996—Criticism and interpretation.
Classification: LCC PL849.N4 Z78 2020 | DDC 895.63/5—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019016745
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Van C. Gessel,
translator,
literary critic,
mentor,
friend,
and recent recipient of one of the highest non-Japanese civilian honors.
With abiding affection
Contents
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
F OREWORD
The Myths of Ganga
Julian Crandall Hollick
I NTRODUCTION
A Novel We Have Loved
Mark W. Dennis and Darren J. N. Middleton
Part One: Historical and Comparative Approaches
C HAPTER O NE
Navigating Deep River through the Lens of Buddhist Thought
Mark W. Dennis
C HAPTER T WO
A Gaze Turned Inward: Perspectives from the Orient
Mini Chandran
C HAPTER T HREE
Japan’s Orient and Animal Theology in Endō Shūsaku’s Deep River
Zhange Ni
C HAPTER F OUR
Religion and Violence in Deep River
Ronald Green
C HAPTER F IVE
Endō Shūsaku: The Long Road to the Deep River
Mark Williams
Part Two: Literary and Theological Approaches
C HAPTER S IX
Catholic Convergences in Deep River
Mark Bosco and Christopher Wachal
C HAPTER S EVEN
Shūsaku Endō and Flannery O’Connor on the Grotesque
Elizabeth Cameron Galbraith
C HAPTER E IGHT
From “Catholic” to “catholic”: Arriving at Deep River
Maeri Megumi
C HAPTER N INE
Deep River as Endō’s Book of Job : Gathering a Community of Sufferers at the Water’s Edge
Van C. Gessel
C HAPTER T EN
Mitsuko, That’s Me: Autobiographical Space in Endō Shūsaku’s Final Novel
Justyna Weronika Kasza
C HAPTER E LEVEN
Imagining India: Traversing Deep River with Enami and Ōtsu
P. A. George
C HAPTER T WELVE
Endō Shūsaku and Religious Pluralism
Emi Mase-Hasegawa
C HAPTER T HIRTEEN
Endō Shūsaku’s Process Panentheism
Darren J. N. Middleton
C HAPTER F OURTEEN
Japanese Sensibility and Transcendence in Deep River
Dennis Hirota
A FTERWORD
Deep and Wide: Tourists and Pilgrims in the Shallows
S. Brent Plate
F OR F URTHER R EADING
C ONTRIBUTORS
I NDEX
Acknowledgments
Several industrious, skilled, and kind people assisted us in publishing as well as assembling this book, our second anthology of essays on Shūsaku Endō’s fiction. We would like to recognize them here; naturally, any errors remain our own: anonymous peer reviewers with SUNY Press; the Association for Asian Studies; the Conference on Christianity and Literature; Jenn Bennett-Genthner; Barbara, Brent, and Joe Dennis; J. Sage Elwell; Betsy Flowers; Andy Fort; Rob Garnett; Priscilla, Solomon, and Gladys Jaichander; Fran Keneston; James Peltz; S. Brent Plate; and Paul John Roach.
We value Christopher Ahn, our tirelessly attentive editor at SUNY Press. Chris is a gentleman and a scholar, a lovely human being, and we are sincerely grateful for his thoughtful and generous encouragement. To Hugh Cowling for our book cover’s astonishing artistry, our thanks.
Permissions to reprint copyrighted material in this book are gratefully acknowledged:
For nonexclusive English-language UKBC rights, print only, of Shusaku Endo, Deep River , translated by Van C. Gessel (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 1994), we deeply appreciate the helpfulness of Simon Smith, senior editor and rights manager, at Peter Owen Ltd. Copyright © 1994 the heirs of Shusaku Endo; English translation copyright © Van C. Gessel 1994—Peter Owen Publishers, UK.
For nonexclusive English language world rights, excluding British Commonwealth, print only, of Shusaku Endo, Deep River , translated by Van C. Gessel (New York: New Directions Publishing Corp., 1994), we thank Christopher Wait, permissions editor, New Directions Publishing Corp. By Shusaku Endo, translated by Van C. Gessel, from Deep River , copyright © 1994 by Shusaku Endo. English Translation © 1994 Van C. Gessel. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
For nonexclusive world, ebook rights to the English translation of Deep River , we value the kind permission of Ryūnosuke Endō, president and COO, Fuji Television Network, Inc., Japan.
An earlier version of Zhange Ni’s work in chapter 3 was first published as “Japan’s Orient and Animal Theology in Shūsaku Endō’s Deep River ,” The Journal of American Academy of Religion 81, no. 3 (2013): 669–97. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press.
Mark W. Dennis
Darren J. N. Middleton
Autumn 2019
Foreword
The Myths of Ganga
JULIAN CRANDALL HOLLICK
I had never read anything by Endō Shūsaku until November 2017. I had certainly never heard of Deep River . It came as a revelation. I can honestly say I enjoyed every moment of it. And it set me wondering why the Ganges, or Ganga, River should be so fascinating for Endō. Why would a Japanese Roman Catholic writer be fixated on Ganga? Endō, presumably, like millions of Hindus and non-Hindus, believes deep down that this river really does wash away human sins and carry the human ashes consigned to its waters to the next world. No other river in the world appears to have this ability. And many contributors to this instructive volume seem to concur.
I want to say “mythical” ability because this power really is in the mind. It doesn’t matter if the mind is Hindu, Buddhist, or Catholic. For years I also believed that Ganga is unique because she alone possesses mythological and biochemical properties that no other river contains. Today, I am less certain. 1 Ever since I traveled down the Ganga by country boat in 2004, I have been fascinated by the mythology that Ganga cleanses humans of their sins and cures them of diseases. I wanted to find out why and how, like any good journalist. Was there science that would confirm or deny the mythology? The constant in this argument appears to be the powers of Ganga as the Supreme Goddess. But today, I am not so sure that, even in mythology, Ganga is that unique. There are simply too many texts that state that other “sacred” rivers possess most, if not all the same, powers to cleanse humans of their sins to prevent disease.
But first, why and how did this mythology about Ganga’s unique powers come into being? 2 In the Rig Veda , Upani ṣ ads , and Purā ṇ as , there are copious references to the powers of Ganga as a goddess, 3 just as there are to the other seven sacred rivers. 4 But in all the subsequent references right up to the present day, these powers are almost always referred to as unique to Ganga, presumably because she is the Supreme Goddess—not just a shallow and polluted river, although that is another story! 5
The Ganges is a sacred river to Hindus along every fragment of its length. Hindus bathe in its waters, paying homage to their ancestors and to their gods by cupping the water in their hands, lifting it and letting it fall back into the river; they offer flowers and rose petals and float shallow clay dishes filled with oil and lit with wicks ( diyas ). On the journey back home from the Ganges, they carry small quantities of river water with them for use in rituals. 6
There are many myths about how Ganga came down to earth. The most famous myth tells how Ganga came down through the locks of Śiva’s hair to restore the bodies of King Sagira’s sixty thousand sons burned to ashes by the gaze of the sage Kapil, 7 hence the belief that Ganga jal —the waters of Ganga—purifies human souls and cleanses them of sin. 8
If one is cremated upon the Ganga’s banks, and one’s ashes are scattered in the river, particularly at Varanasi, this will ensure liberation from further rebirths. If you cannot make it to Ganga or to Varanasi, then a drink of Ganga jal will at least ease the pains of dying. 9
Ganga is therefore more than just a river. She is the archetype of all sacred waters. If a person cannot get to Ganga, any of the seven will do. If they are not available, then any other river will do, because Ganga is literally everywhere. Dig and water will spring forth—it is Ganga. Even in Mumbai there is a famous bathing tank called Bana Ganga . 10 Nor is Ganga “depicted ambiguously, like the other gods, with a lotus leaf in one hand and a weapon in the other. She bea