Navigating Deep River

At Texas Christian University, Mark W. Dennis is Professor of East Asian Religions. At Texas Christian University, Darren J. N. Middleton is John F. Weatherly Professor of Religion. They are the coeditors of Approaching Silence: New Perspectives on Shūsaku Endō's Classic Novel. Dennis is also the translator of Prince Shōtoku's Commentary on the Śrīmālā Sutra, and Middleton has written and edited many other books, including George Eliot: Illuminated by the Message.

• AcknowledgmentsForeword: The Myths of GangaJulian Crandall HollickIntroduction: A Novel We Have LovedMark W. Dennis and Darren J. N. MiddletonPart One: Historical and Comparative Approaches 1. Navigating Deep River through the Lens of Buddhist ThoughtMark W. Dennis2. A Gaze Turned Inward: Perspectives from the OrientMini Chandran3. Japan's Orient and Animal Theology in Endō Shūsaku's Deep RiverZhange Ni4. Religion and Violence in Deep RiverRonald Green5. Endō Shūsaku: The Long Road to the Deep RiverMark WilliamsPart Two: Literary and Theological Approaches 6. Catholic Convergences in Deep RiverMark Bosco and Christopher Wachal7. Shūsaku Endō and Flannery O'Connor on the GrotesqueElizabeth Cameron Galbraith8. From "Catholic" to "catholic": Arriving at Deep RiverMaeri Megumi9. Deep River as Endō's Book of Job: Gathering a Community of Sufferers at the Water's EdgeVan C. Gessel10. Mitsuko, That's Me: Autobiographical Space in Endō Shūsaku's Final NovelJustyna Weronika Kasza11. Imagining India: Traversing Deep River with Enami and ŌtsuP. A. George12. Endō Shūsaku and Religious PluralismEmi Mase-Hasegawa13. Endō Shūsaku's Process PanentheismDarren J. N. Middleton14. Japanese Sensibility, and Transcendence in Deep RiverDennis HirotaAfterword: Deep and Wide: Tourists and Pilgrims in the ShallowsS. Brent PlateFor Further ReadingContributorsIndex

"…this is a unified set of papers—both readable and intellectually enjoyable for those interested in modern Japanese literature, literary theology, and any aspect of Endō's life and work … Highly recommended." — CHOICE"This volume contextualizes, delineates, and articulates the complex religious/theological/spiritual dimensions of Deep River and its rich intertextual, interpersonal, psychosocial, and literary aspects. There are few edited volumes in which so many experts focus on a single Japanese text in this sustained manner, and this stands as a model of how to do so deftly and productively." — David C. Stahl, author of Social Trauma, Narrative Memory and Recovery in Japanese Literature and Film