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Religion and literary practice in the essays and fiction of Endo Shusaku
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Religion and literary practice in the essays and fiction of Endo Shusaku
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RELIGION AND LITERARY PRACTICE IN THE ESSAYS AND FICTION OF ENDO SHUSAKU Copyright 2005 by Maeri Megumi A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS (EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES) August 2005 Maeri Megumi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1430398 Copyright 2005 by Megumi, Maeri All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 1430398 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am extremely grateful to all my committee members: Dr. Anne Sokolsky for reviewing all my work in great detail and constantly supporting me both psychologically and academically, Dr. David Bialock for his time and thoughtful guidance, and Dr. Dominic Cheung for his warm encouragement. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of the Japanese Program in our department and my colleagues for helping me in various ways as I went through the process of writing this thesis. Also, I cannot thank enough James Walk, who patiently scrutinized my draft and provided me with invaluable support. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 Endo’s Early Life and Literary Development................................ 2 Catholicism in Endo’s Literary Practice ........................................ 6 2 ENDO’ S THEORIES OF LITERATURE AND REGLIGION .............. 1 1 3 ANALYSIS OF ENDO’S FICTION ....................................................... 36 Analysis of Silence ......................................................................... 36 Analysis of Deep River ................................................................. 49 Comparison between Silence and Deep River ............................ 64 4 CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................................................... 78 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................. 81 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Endo Shusaku (1923-1996), a renowned Japanese novelist and a committed Catholic, produced numerous works of fiction and essays. Many of them deal with his struggle between the cultural heritage of the polytheistic Japanese environment and the strictness of Catholic monotheism. Furthermore, the morality Catholicism imposed upon him was often contrary to his beliefs, as a writer, of depicting human nature and the mind truthfully. Endo, however, found a way to harmonize these conflicting elements and established his own philosophy. In this thesis, I will examine the way Endo developed his philosophy by analyzing some of his essays and two representative works of fiction, Silence (1966) and Deep River (1993). Clearly, Endo’s philosophy regarding literature was formed early in his life and remained consistent while his notion of religion evolved as his experience grew and his perspectives changed. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Endo Shusaku 1923-1996) is one of the most prominent post-war modern Japanese writers, whose stories have been translated into dozens of languages including English, Chinese, French, and Russian. In Japan, Endo has been the recipient of many literary awards, while a number of scholars published full length studies of his work1 . Abroad, the American novelist John Updike (1932 -) praised Endo’s novel Silence as a “ remarkable book,” 2 and the English novelist Graham Greene (1904-1991) characterized it as “ one of the finest novels of our time.” Perhaps his enormous output of writing is a result of his struggle to come to terms with his identity as a post-war modern Japanese person who was also a Catholic by faith and a writer by profession. Endo’s success as a writer was not an easy one, however. As a practicing Catholic, Endo not only had to confront the dilemma of reconciling his Catholic faith with a secular and skeptical literary practice, but he had to do so in a country where the major religious traditions, Buddhism and the indigenous beliefs known as Shinto, presented what often appeared to be a radically opposed set of religious beliefs. The present study 1 For instance, there are two Endo Shusaku ron Discussions on Endo Shusaku) by Kasai Akifu 1935 -) and Kazusa Hideo 1931 -), and Endo Shusaku no suhete / < ‘C, Everything about Endo Shusaku) by Hiroishi Renji ( / £ 5 8 S - 1931 -). 2 John Updike. “Fumie to son! no kuni (SU SIe <h V — — <Dffl)” Trans. Takao Tomiyama. Gunzo Nihon no sakka 22 Endd Shusaku dPMH B 2 2 : jaj& JilfE ). Tokyo: Shogakkan, 1991. 16-25. This article First appeared in The New Yorker in January. 1980. 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. examines Endo’s literary practice in light of his evolving and often conflicted Catholicism. Endo’s Early Life and Literary Development3 Endo Shusaku was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1923 as the second son of Tokihisa and Ikuko (ffi-F). Because of his father’s job as a banker, the family moved to Dalian, Manchuria in 1926 when Endo was three years old, and they stayed there until his parents separated in 1933. After the divorce, Endo’s mother, Ikuko brought her two sons with her to Kobe4 where her sister lived. Influenced by her sister, Ikuko became a devout Catholic, and Endo began to go to church with his mother. When Endo was eleven years old, he was baptized at his mother’s instigation. Endo moved to his father’s house in Tokyo in 1942 in order not to burden his mother financially; he had failed several high school5 entrance examinations. He applied to the preparatory school for Keio University and was accepted in 1943. But despite his father’s wish for Endo to study medicine, Endo applied to the department of literature. Consequently, his father disowned him and Endo had to work part time to continue his studies. Because of the war, however, Endo was not 3 M ost inform ation in this section is from the biography sections in Fnkai kavva Sosakn Nikki ( r$H%;5Jj H |B, Composition Notes for “Deep River”) on pages 193-211, and in Gunzo: Nihon no sakka 22 Endo Shusaku (IjH ft : 2 on pages 356-366. 4 Kobe is usually considered as one of the most westernized cities in Japan. 5 They were called Kyusei koko and this means that they were under the old educational system. Thus, Kyusei koko would have been the equivalent to what we call today “university.” 2 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. able to concentrate on studying. Like all students at the time, he was forced to work at a factory; all the students were either drafted or compelled to work to produce war related products. Due to a chronic lung problem, Endo was never drafted. He was often oppressed and criticized because he was a Catholic, an enemy religion during the war.6 Even Endo himself questioned the attitude of the churches in Japan; they never tried to protest against the act of killing despite the fundamental creed of Christianity: “Thou shall not kill.” 7 After the war, Endo decided to pursue study French literature. As a result, he developed an interest in French Catholic writers such as Francois Mauriac and Georges Bernanos. In 1947, Endo’ s first essay “ Kamigarni to kami to (1$^ Gods and the God)” appeared in a literary magazine called Shiki (EB=§g. Four Seasons), and another essay “ Katorikku sakka no mondai ( t i b V y & ftifcCD The Problems Confronting the Catholic Author)” was published in Mita Bungaku (Z E ffl^ t^ )8 . He joined a coterie called Mita Bungaku and became acquainted with 6 lenaga, Saburo. The Pacific War. 1931-1945. Trans. Frank Baldwin. New York: Random House, 1978. Since Japan fought mainly against the U.S., Christianity was considered to be a religion of the enemy, and the Japanese were forced to believe that the Emperor was the only God. In The Pacific War. lenaga talks about the government’s indoctrination during the war (19-32). lenaga mentions in The Pacific War that, except a few Christians, almost all major Christian groups supported the “holy war” of Japan (123). 8 Mita Bungaku is both a name of a literary journal and a coterie, which was established by Nagai Kafu in 1910. It produced many famous writers such Endo Shusaku, Hara Tamiki and Eto Jun. Also Mori Ogai, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro and Akutagawa Ryunosuke were contributors. It still exists and continues to support vigorous literary activities. It is called M ita Bungaku because Keio University’s campus is at Mita. O f course, regardless of one’s affiliate, anyone who is interested can participate in the journal. 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. other writers such as Hara Tamiki (SUSHI 1905-1951) and Yamamoto Kenkichi 1907-1988). Life for Endo as well as any other Japanese person traveling the post-war world was not easy. After graduating from Keio University in 1948, he received a scholarship to study in France. A t the time, Japan had not yet made a peace treaty with any country and the embassies and consulate offices were all closed. Endo describes this hard experience, especially on the voyage to France in some of his essays. According to Endo, for instance, when the ship was at Manila, it was stopped because Japanese students were on board. The Japanese students, including Endo, were interrogated while the Philippinos surrounding the ship accused and derided them; shouts and insults where hurled at the students, some even in Japanese, “ Hitogoroshi (killer)” and “ Bakayaroo (idiots).” They had to hide in the luggage section for three days for safety reasons. If found, Endo feared, the Japanese students might have been severely attacked. In France, Endo mainly stayed in Lyon and studied French Catholic literature. However, he had a serious pulmonary problem and was sent back to Japan in 1953. Although Endo stayed in France less than three years, his experiences of learning and living in the environment of European culture as well as European Catholicism greatly influenced his life. He often used the motif of foreign studies in his stories and discussed them in his essays. Also, as we shall see in the following chapters, his understanding of European culture helped shape his philosophy of religion and literature. 4 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In Japan, Endo began his career as a critic but after he published his first work of fiction called Aden made ( 7 t V S "C , A s Far as Aden) in 1954, he started to write stories and was able to establish himself as a respected novelist. Soon after Endo returned to Japan, Yasuoka Shotaro 1920-), who was also a writer and a graduate of Keio University, invited Endo to joined the Koso no kai m m < D £ Conception Society)9 . The members of the Conception Society included Yoshiyuki Jun’nosuke ( e q ? T 1924-1994), Miura Shumon 1926-), and others who would later be called Daisan no shinjin or the “ Third Generation of New Writers.” Many of the members of the Conception Society received the Akutagawa Prize in the early 1950s, and Endo was awarded the Prize for his Shiroi hito (E -3 IA A . White Man) in 1955 at the age of 32. From that point on, Endo produced numerous works, many of which were acclaimed by literary critics and received several prizes. To list a few, he was awarded the 9 The term Daisan no shinjin was first mentioned in the journal Bungakkai Literary World) in 1953, but the precise meaning of the name was never clear. The formation of the group started when personnel of Bungakkai coordinated a meeting for young writers, which was then called Ichi-ni-kai (— One-Two Association). Although those who were invited to attend the meeting were all new writers, Gessel explains, they never discussed literature because it was merely a meeting set up by the staff of a famous magazine, rather than a group that gathered due to possession of a similar ideology. To put it plainly, they had nothing in common to talk about. Still, some of those who attended the One-Two Association began to develop friendships. And after many of the members received the Akutagawa prize, the media started to pay attention to the One-Two Association, and see the group in connection with the Third Generation writers. The members of the One-Two Association planned to issue a coterie magazine called Koso Conception) just like the Sengo-ha writers had the Kindai Bungaku magazine. Unfortunately, however, the magazine Koso was never published. The One-Two Association was replaced with Koso no kai (H§i0(£)Tr, Conception Society) after some change in members in 1954. Endo joined the Conception Society at this time as a critic. 5 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Shincho Bungei Prize and the Mainichi Bungei Prize for Umi to dokuvaku Sea and Poison) in 1958, the Tanizaki Prize for Chinmoku Silence) in 1966, and the Noma Prize for Samurai (fe. The Samurai) in 1980. His last major work, Fukai kawa Deep River), was published in 1993, and in 1995, he received the Order of Cultural Merit Bunka Kunsho), which is the highest award a Japanese person can receive. Endo passed away in 1996 due to acute pneumonia from chronic kidney troubles. But he left behind his fiction and essays, which provide a unique modern Japanese voice that considered ideas of spirituality and literature in the space of the written world. Catholicism in Endo’s Literary Practice One of Endo’s most important interpreters is the American scholar Van C. Gessel, who has translated several of his novels and stories into English and written a number of critical studies of Endo’s works. Gessel is particularly interested in post-war period Japanese literature and a group called Daisan no Shinjin the Third Generation of New Writers)1 0 to which Endo belonged". In 1 ( 1 For more information about Daisan no shinjin, please refer to the footnote about Koso no kai on page 5. In order to describe the literary circles during and after World War II, three terms should be explained: Senchu-ha War Generation), Sengo-ha Post-War Faction), and Daisan no shinjin A, Third Generation of New Writers). The latter two factions are Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Sting of Life. Gessel analyzes post-war literature of the Third Generation writers and devotes an entire chapter called “ Salvation of the Weak” to Endo’s works. He argues that Endo, as well as other writers of the Third Generation, wrote from the viewpoint of the weak. Another important scholar of Endo in the U.S. is Mark B. Wiliams. In contrast to Gessel’s historical approach in studying Endo, Williams applies a more theoretical reading to Endo’s works. In Endo Shusaku: A Literature of Reconciliation. Williams uses a Jungian notion of the unconscious to analyze Endo’s novels, and asserts that they deal with the process of reconciling the conscious and unconscious. Both Gessel’s and Wiliams’ research are quite interesting, however, they do not focus on Endo’s work in relation to, or from the viewpoint of his struggle with, his religious belief as a Catholic. Therefore, in this considered to be the subgroups of the former. The Senchu-ha writers were those who grew up at a time when the Japanese military aggressively expanded its territory and controlled the education system. Although they survived the war physically, Gessel argues that the Senchu-ha authors were quite different from the pre-war writers in that they did not possess the same kind of self-confidence, perhaps due to their experiences during the war period. Also, there is “an inevitable layer of irony between author and quasi-autobiographical protagonist” and, to borrow an expression from one of the Senchu-ha writers, they all had a sense of “chronic weariness” (Gessel 5). Furthermore, some of them had a strong tendency to refuse traditional, native forms of literary expression, such as the I- novel or even the haiku form. The Sengo-ha writers, a sub-group of the Senchu-ha, “were the first significant group of new writers to emerge after 1945” (Gessel 23), and writers such as Oka Shohei, Takeda Taijun, Noma Hiroshi are considered to be in this group. A ll the Sengo-ha writers were the contributors to the journal, Kindai Bungaku ( j £ f t 3 t ^ , Modern Literature), which began its publication in 1946. Mark Wiliams also suggests that many of the Sengo-ha writers were those who had been forced to convert (tenko) in the 1930s; they now looked to Marxism or existential philosophy for the ideological basis of their works (17). Another subgroup of the Senchu-ha is the Third Generation, with which Endo is often associated. Gessel (40) describes the emergence of the Third Generation writers in the following terms: The focus shifted from national/philosophical to individual/bread-and-butter goals once again - perhaps for the first time in over two decades. The concerns of everyday life rather than existential crises were what occupied the thoughts of the commoner in Japan. And the new writers - the Third Generation - were those who gave voice to the new public sentiment, echoing not only its external features but also the anxiety buried beneath. In contrast to the Sengo-ha writers, the Third Generation authors did not have any idealistic or ideological tenor such as Marxism or existential philosophy. 7 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. paper, I w ill examine Endo’s ideological conflict and reconciliation with his competing identities as a modern Japanese writer and a Japanese Catholic. In Chapter 2 ,1 w ill focus on Endo’s critical essays written in both the earlier and the later part of his career. The early essays that I w ill look at are “ Katorikku sakka no mondai ( t i h U V 9 The Problems Confronting the Catholic Author)” and “ Bungaku to kirisuto kyo lJ X h fft, Literature and Christianity),” both of which were written before the 1960s. In these essays, Endo argues for the importance of separating literature and religion. He emphasizes that a literary work that preaches Catholic doctrines no longer qualifies as literature. At the same time, Endo admits the difficulties involved in being a Catholic, who has to not only depict but also empathize with sinful human beings in his texts. Endo also points out in these essays the lack of opposing forces in Japanese literature, and discusses the necessity for Japanese writers to create contradictory forces and use them to create dramatic, powerful novels. In his earlier essays, Endo appears to have tried to adopt the dichotomous ways of thinking inherent to Catholicism, while his later essays such as “ Kokoro ni hisomu genkei (/C'fCCk-^'tjTClS, Archetype Hidden in the Mind-Heart)” and “ Kirisuto kyo to watashi no kuichigai ( + U X A Gulf between Christianity and Me)” show that he diverts from the mainstream Catholic doctrines. Instead, Endo, while remaining Catholic, seems to have grown to accept and enjoy the ideas from different religions such as Buddhism, and shows a growing 8 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. interest in Karl Gustav Jung’s notion of the unconscious as well. Although his strong belief in the separation between literature and religion remained consistent throughout his writing career, what did not remain the same was his religious philosophy. In his later life, Endo clearly rejects the dichotomous approach in Catholic doctrines that observes the human world in terms such as good versus evil. I w ill illustrate the way Endo’s ideas changed over time by examining both his earlier and later essays, and, in conjunction with Endo’s philosophy of religion, briefly explain John Hick’s notion of religious pluralism with which Endo identified himself. Chapter 3 takes up two of Endo’s major novels, Silence (1966) and Deep River (1993), which are examined in light of the philosophy expressed in Endo's essays. Because of the subject matter, many critics regard Silence as Catholic literature, but as my analysis w ill show, there is no doctrinal message in Silence. In addition, it is evident that Endo’s philosophy of religion and literature seen in his early essays are present in this novel. I w ill also touch upon Eto Jun’s (1933-) essay about Silence, in which Eto argues that the transformation of the fatherly God to a motherly God is seen in Silence, and that Endo’s God has an image of a Japanese mother. Eto’s essay seems to have become a springboard for other Japanese scholarship on the analysis of Silence. While Silence can be looked at as a clear example of Endo’s early philosophy, Deep River, his last major work of fiction, has a very different flavor. It is a cumulative work of Endo’s in which the philosophical development and 9 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. different selves of Endo are all displayed. In Deep River. Endo’s notion of religion goes markedly beyond the strictures of Catholicism and becomes much more universal, like Hick’s religious pluralism that argues for the validity of all major religions of the world. Also, by comparing Silence and Deep River along with his relevant essays, I w ill point out several major factors that indicate the transformations of Endo’s ideas of Catholicism, and his approaches to religion. By the time Deep River was written, Endo had established his own philosophy, which enabled him to lead a life both as a modern Japanese writer and as a Japanese person who was Catholic. 10 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 2 ENDO’S THEORIES OF LITERATURE AND RELIGION Endo was a prolific writer and produced numerous essays. Due to the limitation of space, I w ill only examine some of them, comparing his earlier essays to those he wrote in his later career. This examination w ill focus on both Endo's changing philosophies as well as those which remained consistent throughout his life. The earlier essays analyze the relationship between religion, literature and his Japanese heritage. Through these writings, Endo clearly portrays his views of Catholicism, his understanding of French Catholic literature, and the increasing conflicts he felt between Catholicism and his native Japanese heritage. At this stage, his thinking still appears to follow along the lines of the generally accepted Catholic ways of dichotomous thinking; he talks about how Japanese writers could adopt the strategies of powerful European novels. His later essays, on the other hand, go beyond the strictures of European Catholicism. Particularly remarkable in the later essays is Endo’s increasing interest in the idea of “ unconsciousness” and his rejection of certain concepts in Catholicism. Endo talks about Jung’s notion of the unconscious in many of his later essays, and applies it to the analysis of literature. Also, he shows great appreciation for ideas from different religions such as Buddhism, and his perspective on Catholicism becomes much more unique, which can be identified with Hick’s philosophy of religion. 1 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The first essay I w ill focus on is one of Endo’s earliest essays called “ Katorikku sakka no mondai ( t i V U V £ The Problems Confronting the Catholic Author),” which was written in 1947 when he was still in college. Endo analyzes and discusses the issues that Catholic writers - mainly French Catholic writers - face, and talks about the norms of Catholic literature. As the title indicates, the essay focuses on issues confronting Catholic writers: how can a Catholic writer deal with the contradiction between being a writer, who commonly explores evil at great length, and being a Catholic, who has to avoid evil? Endo starts his argument with an exploration of monotheism and polytheism. He discusses the difference between the world with God and the world with kami (f$ )1 6 , or gods. According to Endo, the most prominent difference is what he calls “sonzai no chitsujo j^ , An Order for A ll Existing Things)” which is central to Western monotheism but not Eastern polytheism. This order, or hierarchy, is based on the notion of death. For instance, Endo explains1 7 , bugs and insects are farthest from the consciousness of death because they come from eggs, which have no connection to their mother through the warmth of her body. Next come birds; they are half aware of the existence of death because they can feel the warmth of their 1 6 Here, the word “God” is used strictly in the sense of the Christian God. It is a little confusing because the Christian God translates into the Japanese word kami, but kami originally means deities or gods. This original notion of kami is quite different from that of the Christian God because, even though in both cases it refers to something super-human, the Japanese notion of kami is polytheistic in nature. In addition, many kami are part of nature including human beings and animals. (Thus, for example, there are human kami and cat kami as well as kami of mountains, etc.) 17 Endo uses Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem called “Duino Elegies” to explain the hierarchy. 12 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. mother’s feathers. Then comes the world of children; they do not know death yet, but when they become adults, they have to face the inevitable horror of death. This hierarchy is very clearly defined, and humans can never become, for example, birds. On the other hand, there is no such strict separation or hierarchy in Eastern polytheism. Each entity or living thing is part of the whole. There is no conflict against one another because, in the end, everything goes back to, or merges into, the whole. Furthermore, the very common notion of reincarnation in the East implies the possibilities of a change from one kind of living thing into another. There is no clear boundary between different creatures. Endo explains that because Catholicism belongs to the monotheistic world of God, human beings can never become God, even though they can be saved by God. In effect, the positions of human beings and God are placed opposite each other. Conversely, there is no opposition of this kind in the polytheistic world of Japan. Hence, there is no struggle resulting from a distinct separation between God and human beings in the way that it could be perceived in Western monotheism. This is one of the most distinct differences between the philosophies of the West and of the East. O f course, it does not mean that everyone has to choose to believe in God in the West. In the monotheistic world, human beings have freedom to choose God or reject Him. But whether one believes in God or rejects Him, they still have to fight against God. People have to be active participants in regard to religion, and this attitude is lacking in Japan. Endo considers Japanese people as passive with regard 13 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. to religion because the fundamental concept in polytheism allows them to stay passive; they w ill be saved or become part of the whole without actively participating in it. According to Endo, Catholic writers put their freedom to choose God or reject Him into the literature they compose. Even if the writing focuses on God and religion, a Catholic writer's main task is to portray human beings. “ Catholic literature depicts the fight (drame), joy (joie), and agony (souffrance) of human beings. Moreover, as long as it is literature, the center o f gravity is placed in human beings and never on angels or God1 8 ” fSvukvo to bungaku 78). Catholics have to fight against themselves, against sins, against devils, and even against God, and the task of the Catholic writer is to depict these human fights as accurately and sincerely as possible. A t this point, Endo also stresses that, if a writer gives more weight to God or His angels, then it is no longer literature. He says “ If Catholic literature alters or distorts the human psychology of the characters in the text for the sake of 1 8 Translated by Maeri Megumi. Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are my own. Katorikku bungaku towa koshita ningen no sento (dorama) ya kanki (jowa) ya kuno (surufansu) o egakumonodesu. Shikamo katorikku bungaku wa bunngaku de aru ijo, sono jtishin o ningen ni okunodeatte kesshite tenshi ya kami ni okunodewa nai. ( f t V U "J l i , ZLO Ale)<D '®M ■ * > , WiU ('>3 ■7) U 7 7 > x ) U frfcib MJ © T l i & l ' o )(emphasis in the original) Endo uses some French words in Katakana, which are put in brackets. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. apologetics or to propagate Catholicism - in other words, for “ literature through Catholicism" - then this is not literature in the true sense” '9 (Syukyo to bungaku 80). According to Endo, the obligation of the writer is to delineate human beings, not to characterize God. The dilemma is, however, in order to truly depict characters, a writer sometimes must delve into a world of sin and evil. In fact, an accurate representation requires the writer to identify with or even empathize with the character. If the writer is not Catholic, Endo suggests, he or she would not have to worry. For Catholic writers, however, an honest portrayal of characters requires embracing aspects of human nature in a way that threatens purity as a Catholic. He wonders how a Catholic writer can render a work that represents a truthful scrutiny of human beings while simultaneously maintaining obligations as a Catholic. In other words, the conflict is between purity of one's works versus purity of one's religious life. How can one reconcile these two opposing positions? Endo’s answer is that, “ if one can truly achieve the depiction of a human being by gazing upon humanity, it should lead to the image of human beings in Catholicism because, if Catholicism is the truth, then it should correspond to the true human depiction2 0 ” ('Syukvo to bungaku 84). Thus, the writer’s task as a writer 1 9 Moshi katorikku sakka ga, “katorishisumu ni okeru bungaku, ” tsumari katorishisumu no gokyooteki, sendenteki na mokutekino tame ni, sakucyuu jinbutsu no ningenteki shinri o sakuitekini shitari, yugametari surunaraba, korewa shin no imi deno bungaku dewa arimasen. (fc L . *h'J "Jtwrnw r* h Uv* AIcfcltj ostl* w tb tzy -r-s & e tf, 2 < ) Moshi, ningen heno kanzen naru gydshi kara shin no ningen o egaketa toki wa, sorewa katorikkuteki ningenzo ni tsujiteiku. Nazenaraba katorishisumu ga shinri nara tozen sorewa shin no ningenzdno ue ni syouou (koresupondo) surukara dearu. (t> C , 15 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and as a Catholic could be the same: to capture true human nature and delineate the real person. If done with a sincere belief that God guides the writer with pure intentions, such an endeavor cannot be against Catholicism. After all, Endo suggests, the writer is not God; he or she has to let the character in the story take their own course even if this course might lead them to destruction or to the devil. The Catholic writer should leave it in the hands of God for judgment as to whether the character should be saved. In this way, the decision is made not within the text, but outside the text. Endo nonetheless wonders what happens if the reader does not understand the intention or the prayer of the writer? What if the text contaminates the reader’s soul with the evil written in the text? What if the evil world that the writer creates lures the reader into embracing such a lifestyle? Endo realizes that, if the writer is not Catholic, he or she possibly feels little concern over such an issue; such a writer probably believes that everything in art should be forgiven. But Catholic writers cannot ignore the possibility or danger of their texts’ power to taint the soul of the reader. Thus, there is a constant struggle between the conscience as a Catholic, and the conscience as a writer. Endo considers the Catholic writer as someone placed between these two, often opposing, forces. A t the same time, Endo is quite aware of the helplessness of the writer once the text is written. As Roland Barth discusses in his “ Death of the Author,” it is not 16 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. that the narrator narrates the text but the text itself narrates. Surprisingly, Endo talks about the independence of the text in an essay called “ Geijutsu no kijun Norms of A rt)” where he says, When a writer finishes writing the last line of his manuscript and finishes his creation of the work - which is still steamy with the writer's breath, his body temperature, and heat - the writer and the work begin to separate. From this moment, the work begins to be independent; it insists on its own existence, its freedom, and its time and life. This is because the work exists by itself, and has its own value2 1 . (Svukyo to bungaku 139). Unfortunately, Endo does not mention the role of the reader, so we do not know his opinion in this regard. But from the essays that are available, one might speculate that Endo would respect different judgments and leave the interpretation of the text in the hands of each reader. I now turn to Endo’s essay called “ Bungaku to kirisutokyo U bLiterature and Christianity)2 2 ,” which was written after he returned from his three years sojourn in France froml950 to 1953. In this essay, Endo provides a brief summary of the history of the relationship between art and religion from medieval times in France, and compares it to the situation of modern Japanese literature. By tracing the history of art and religion in Europe and 21 Aru sakka ga genkoyoshi no saigo no gyd o kakioeta toki, soshite kare no ibuki ya taion ga mada yuge o tateteiru sakuhin o tsukuri oeta toki, kare to sakuhin wa hanarehajimeru noda. Sakuhin wa sono syunkan kara sakka towa dokuritsushite sono sonzai, sono jiyu, sono jikan to seimei to o shucho suru monodearu. Nazenara, sore wa sore jitai no sonzai de ari, sore jitai no kachi dakara dearu. ®<h#pa p<h[if§tni4Dfc3<Dfe0 f^p li^O B S IS l^b 22 In Shukvo to bungaku Tokyo: Nanbokusha, 1963. 9-19. 17 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. comparing it with modern Japanese Literature, Endo points out the weakness of Japanese literature and suggests the means to overcome its deficiency. According to Endo, some works of art were a manifestation of religion during medieval times in France. For example, the stained glasses in a cathedral indicate the existence of “ seishin kyodotai spiritual community).” Endo points out that those works of art are not signed. Because the stained glass was created for God and for those who shared the same belief in God, the artists did not feel a necessity to put individual names on their artworks. The object was made by an individual, but it was considered to be the creation of a spiritual community. Even if the artists did not put their names on it, however, they still wanted to create the utmost beauty of the kind belonging only to God. In effect, they had to compete against Him knowing they could never win. They had limitations as human beings and in terms of the materials that they could use; their abilities were all earthly, not heavenly. Nonetheless, the aspiration to emulate God motivated them to create the most beautiful works of art to the best of their ability. Endo also mentions that, at this time, the ideas of “ tsukuru (HD-S, creating)” and “ nasu < & t , doing/conducting)” were clearly separated; “ creating” existed only in relation to beauty and art, whereas “ doing” had something to do with morality. Endo writes, some people started to refuse God after the Renaissance, and writers tried to take over the position of God. Artists began to assert “ individuality” in their works of art. Endo argues that, literary artists began to write things about morality that fell into the domain of “ doing.” The two actions - “ creating” and 18 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. “ doing” - began to mix. Endo further explains that the spread of Protestantism and Romanticism in literature also encouraged writers to talk about their individual moral values and their own ideas. And, of course, writers began signing their names to works, thereby declaring individual ownership. Yet, according to Endo, two traits remained from art of the medieval times. One was the notion of universalism of beauty and moral standards. The artists still desired to obtain or express the utmost beauty and absolute morality in their artworks. Beauty and morals were now created by men instead of God, but these two notions were considered to belong to the transcendental world beyond human beings. Endo believes that artists did not abandon God. Rather, they were jealous of God and wanted to replace God with themselves. The other trait was the shift towards a dualistic attitude such as spirit vs. body, good vs. evil or logos vs. pathos. The fight between the two opposing forces became an archetype of creative power for a writer. Endo postulates two types of Catholic writers in 20th century Europe; those who wanted to retain the ideology of the medieval time, and those who valued the more individualistic approach in literature after the Renaissance. Those who chose the latter path had to face a new dilemma because they were now attracted by the notion of “ evil” which could contradict their position as Catholics. Endo quotes Francois Mauriac who said, “ The drama of human beings is a battle between evil 19 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and grace...Catholic literature must depict this drama2 3 ” (Syukvo to bungaku 16). But this meant that Catholic writers had to confront two contradictory positions. As a Catholic, they must avoid evil, but as a writer, they must reproduce it. A t the end of “ Literature and Christianity," Endo points out that modern Japanese literature did not begin with the distinction between “ creating” and “ doing.” When Japanese writers tried to learn from the West, they looked at the literature where the two notions were already mixed and took that form as a model. He cites the I-novel2 4 as an example in which this problem can be observed, and criticizes the lack of distance between the writer and the work. For instance, Endo argues that Tayama Katai’s The Quilt (1907) depicts the emancipation of the flesh (niku no kaihd but leaves behind the opposing force, the spirit (rei no sonzai Japanese naturalism lacks an opposing spirit (tairitsu seishin Endo believes that it is essential to have two opposing forces and have them compete against each other in order to create powerful novels, since that is where the energy or power of the novel is created. But, because the I-novel lacks the opposition, the battles could only take place in the realm of everyday life and never move beyond to the metaphysical. 2 3 Ningen no dorama wa aku to oncho tono tatakai de aru. ... katorikku bungaku wa sono doramao egakaneba naranu. (Afel<£> K ^"7(i3§<h.®Sl<h<D^iK'Tr '<fc'?>o . . . J l h U " j 24 The I-novel, or shishosetsu (fA d 'U t) is a form of fiction that was very popular at the beginning of the 20,h century in Japan. Usually, the I-novel is the author’s autobiographical story with a very detailed description about sexual desires or some other issues that were considered to be indecent to talk about at that time. 20 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. According to Endo, Japanese writers realized this missing force and the lack of dichotomies, but all they could say was “ It can’t be helped. We never had a God or its traditions. What kind of opposing forces could we bring in metaphysically?2 5 ” fSvukyo to bungaku 19). Endo counters by suggesting that even though the Japanese never had God and they lack the tradition of having opposing forces such as good and evil, or body and soul, perhaps they can create the opposition in their own way by making a world with God compete against a world without God2 6 and placing them in opposition. This is the only way, Endo seems to suggest, for Japanese literature to have powerful opposing forces. It is quite interesting that, even though Endo was a devout Catholic until his death, he recognized from the beginning that Japan, his native country, has no idea of a single God. Usually, a Catholic is expected to believe in the universality of God as the only truth2 7 throughout the world, and it should apply to the Catholics in Japan. Endo's position, however, does not seem to be that of an exclusivist imposing his belief in the Christian God onto other Japanese people. Rather, he seems to be developing his own way of being Catholic. This essay clearly indicates that, even though he himself is a Catholic, Endo does not necessarily think Catholicism should be the only way for everyone. If his way of believing in God is 25 Shikataga nai. Oretachi niwa motomoto kami ya sono dento ga nakatta no dakara na. Dono you ni tairitsu o keishijdtekimen ni motteiku no kane. ( t t ^ j tfit £ t '< > j f i 1 C 1J f c < fc t > £ 2 6 Here, again, the term “God” is used to indicate the Christian God. There are gods of kami in Japan, but Endo thinks the concepts of these are very different and in this sense, Japan is a country without God. 2 7 Catholic dogma Extra ecclesiam nulla salus (outside the Church, no salvation). 21 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. like the exclusivist’s view, Endo could insist upon the existence of the Christian God in Japan. But he never does. Instead, he even cautions that the Japanese should not pretend to have God, and, as mentioned, suggests using Godlessness to create good literature by placing it against the concept of monotheism. He seems to be well aware of the significance of cultural influence over religion, and the importance of cultural heritage, which cannot easily be removed. Let us now move to the discussion of his later essays. Here, while rejecting some ideas in Catholicism, Endo comes to find several concepts in Buddhism intriguing; he connects Jungian unconsciousness to the philosophy of Buddhism. Even though Endo was never anti-Buddhism or anti-Shintoism, his early essays did not really talk about these two religions, which are so prevalent in Japan. Thus, this change is quite remarkable. In his essay “ Kokoro ni hisomu genkei Archetype Hidden in the Mind-Heart),”2 8 Endo expresses his joy of coming across Jung’s notion of unconscious. I really felt ‘saved’ when I first encountered Jung. It was like I finally came out of the long dark tunnel.... Unlike Freud who considered the unconscious only as a sickly or contorted place, Jung recognized collective consciousness and archetypes apart from personal consciousness, and he was able to consider the unconscious as something more creative, more universal a place where all human beings are connected2 9 . (Watashi no aishita shosetsu 93). o o In Watashi no aishita shosetsu. Tokyo: Shincho bunko, 1985. 82-96. 29 Yungu o hajimete shitta toki,”takukatta” to iu kaihoukan o shimijimi ajiwatta. Kurai tonneru kara nukedeta yona kimochi demo atta. Nazenara, kurikaeshite iu koto daga, yungu wa kojinteki muishiki no hoka ni syugoteki muishiki to genkei to o mitomeru kotode, kono kokoro no himitsu o furoito no youni byoteki na yuganda mono ni gentei sezu, motto sozouteki de, motto jinrui zentai ni tsunagaru basho to shite kuretakara dearu. ( H - 's if L6£)X £flO ifcUrF, f z i 22 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Endo sometimes calls this notion of unconscious “ X,” perhaps because he wants to avoid any religious implication and discuss it as a more universal concept regardless of one’s religion or belief. He writes several essays regarding “ X ” such as “ Ekkusu no kozo (XCDfftis, The Structure of X)” and “ Ningen no naka no ekkusu (A F aitf^C D X , X in human beings).” What he calls “ X” is something deep inside the human mind; in other words, the other self, or the unconscious. There are two “ I” s inside me. The self that I assume to understand and the other self that I don’t. The self that lives consciously, and the other self that is unknown to me. From sometime ago, I began to pay attention to the two selves. When talking to someone or doing something, I came to wonder whether there is another mind behind the words that I used, or a different motivation for a certain action other than what I think is my motivation.3 0 (Kokoro no nokutan3 1 50) He argues that “ X” is something that many writers in the past have paid attention to. But, according to Endo, most writers considered X, or, the unconscious, as simply E ^ z>1t. I f l \ h b f t It ffi/t < f c o b & y fz , & tf& b , < U M l / T W ? Z tfz t)k itt\ ) 3 0 Jibuti no naka ni futatsu no jibun ga iru — Jibun de wakatte iru tsumori no jibun to, soshite jibundemo tsukamete inai jibun to. Jibun de ishiki shite ikiteiru jibun to, soshite jibun demo wakeno wakaranu jibun to. Kono futatsu no jibun o watashi wa aru jiki kara hidoku kinisuru youni natta. Dareka to hanashitari, nanika o yattari shiteiru toki, fui ni kono kotoba no oku ni douiu kokoro ga hisondeiru ka, kono koi no doki niwa jibun de kangaete iru mono to betsu no mono ga aru nodewa naika o omouyd ni natta. 0 <D Icfcbfc. H6jQ»<tBEfcy. ETU-5B#, (,'? tz.i\frt&y£.ylzt£z>fZ', ) 31 Endo, Shusaku. Kokoro no nokutan. Tokyo: Bunshun bunko, 1989. 23 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the place where our suppressed desires accumulate. In other words, Endo says, many people regard the unconscious only as the womb, or the nest for sins. For instance, Endo points to Somerset Maugham’s “ Rain,” which is a story about a priest who has suppressed his desire for so long that it explodes within him one day and compels the priest to have sex with a prostitute whom he was actually trying to help. In this case, the unconscious is regarded negatively because it is where the priest’s hidden lust piles up, and is transformed into the sin of committing adultery. But, Endo's analysis points out some works of literature look at the unconscious not only as a factory of sins, but also as the place where one’s reclamation becomes possible. Endo cites Mauriac’s Mamushi no karamiai Viper’s Tangle) as an example where the reader can see the sinner’s possibility of salvation in the unconscious. In these stories, Endo argues, even though the protagonists sin due to suppression piling up in the unconscious, they find a ray of light in the later part of their respective tales, again in the domain of the unconscious. Endo further postulates that the action of committing a transgression can be considered an expression of the character’s desire to live truthfully, despite explosively manifesting itself in the form of sin. Thus, Endo argues, the unconscious is the birthplace of both sins and a new self. To avoid limiting this concept of “ grace” in Christian terms, Endo acknowledges that this is probably what Buddhists refer to as “ works of Buddha” (Kokoro no nokutan 56-7). In “ Structure of X: part IV,” Endo also draws our attention to the concept called “ alaya” in Mahayana Buddhism, which is extremely similar to the idea of the 24 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jungian unconscious just mentioned above. In Buddhism, Endo explains, “ alaya” is the domain of unconscious where worldly desires as well as sins and attachments from previous lives accumulate. However, it is also the place where the power of Buddha works, through the purification of those accumulations. The precise definition of “ alaya consciousness” varies according to different schools of Buddhism, but it is generally translated as store-consciousness, and in Buddhist Phenomenology. Kochumuttom defines it as the following: alaya-vijnana (store-consciousness) is the individual unconscious, which carries within it the seeds of all past experience. It has within itself the representation of consciousness of unknown objects (upadi, literally meaning ‘what one grasps,’ or ‘clings to’) and places (sthana). It is invariably associated with the experiential categories such as touch (sparsa), attentiveness (manaskara), knowledge (vid = awareness), conception (sanjna = idea), volition (cetana) and feeling (vedana = sensation). None of these experiences at this stage is particularly pleasant (sukha) or unpleasant (duhkha). (Lusthaus 305) By acknowledging the similarities between Buddhism and Catholic writers (but not Catholicism), Endo seems to suggest that the possibilities of “ X ” transcend any one religion. Another important concept that Endo adapts from Jung is the notion of “ archetype.” Jung’s studies of unconscious and archetype seem to have provided Endo with a much more flexible and fresh approach to look at literature and religion. According to Jung, there are archetypes deep in our mind in the unconscious. Although the expressions and appearances are different depending on the culture, the foundation, or the archetype, is the same across different cultures and races. Endo goes further and suggests that the concept of archetype is the key 25 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. to the question of why a story can move people who live in different times and places with different cultural and racial backgrounds. Great works of art touch and move human emotions through the archetype in the unconscious, which is common in all human beings, and that is why great art is appreciated beyond boundaries of culture or time. He also speculates that this may be the reason why the Bible has been read for centuries, even though what is written may not be actual fact. In another essay called “ Kirisuto kyo to watashi no kuichigai (4 1 U ^ A Gulf between Christianity and Me)” Endo states, “ A t least, as a writer, I can clearly state that the dichotomy I learned from European Christianity is no longer of any use for observing human beings3 2 ” (Kokoro no nokutan 116). Endo admits that he used to say and write that Japanese literature was poor because it lacked opposing forces that generate energy for good literature. But after years of gazing upon human minds as well as reading and writing a lot of literature, he feels that the system of the dichotomy has lost its appeal for him. He speculates this change of mind might be due to an occurrence which happens to the Japanese when they get older - a phenomenon called “ toyo kaiki homing instinct to Asia)” - but he thinks it is not as simple as that. Rather, through his experience as a writer, he has come to understand that there is no virtue that does not contain a hint of vice, and no vice that does not have possibilities to transform 32 Sukunakutomo ima no watashi niwa seio kirisutokyd kara mananda nihunho wa mou shosetsuka toshite “ ningen kansatsu” niw ayakuni tatanai to hakkiri ieru noda. ('P t£. K , < h rAfymgj leiasicfcTtfco.*: 26 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. into virtue. A clear division between good and evil in Christian doctrines no longer holds true for him. What is holy should be found in the secular world; holy and secular are analogous. Instead of the strict division between the two in Christianity, Endo finds phrases from Buddhism, such as “ Funbetsuchi o suteyo Abandon discriminatory thinking)3 3 ” and “ Zenaku fu ji ( i l T e , Good and Evil are Non-Dual)3 4 ” more convincing. Apparently, Endo becomes more confident with his own way of being religious after years of struggling to reconcile different parts of himself: a Catholic self, a Japanese self, and another self as a writer. It seems his observation of human beings and the human mind for his purposes as a writer helped him to find a means to be all of his different selves simultaneously. He is still Catholic, but he can criticize some aspects of Catholicism openly while accepting and appreciating different ideas and religions as well. This may also be because Endo’s concept of Catholicism was never a conventional one. Through the analysis and examination of Catholic literature, as well as other literature, combined with his own investigation into the human mind, Endo reaches a rather progressive idea of religion, which he equates with Hick’s notion of religious pluralism. In his Fukai kawa sosaku nikki ( r ^ t B I£, Composition Notes for ‘ Deep River’), Endo remarks that his encounter with John Hick’s Problems of 3 3 This phrase teaches the importance of getting rid of conscious thinking. 3 4 This phrase indicates that good and evil are the same from the viewpoint of the Buddha of equality. 27 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Religious Pluralism3 5 was another delightful revelation3 6 , just as when he first came across Jung’s book. It makes sense that Endo was taken by Hick’s idea because Endo had been developing a philosophy of religion very similar to Hick’s. This is clear from many of his works of fiction as well as from his essays. But before turning to the analysis of Endo’s fiction, we must first take a brief look at “ religious pluralism” as proposed by Hick. According to Hick, the idea of Religious Pluralism stems from Wilfred Cantwell Smith who argued for the existence of ‘something of vital religious significance,’ which he called “ faith.” Smith put forth his concept of faith as the basis behind many religions of the world including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. However, Hick argues that, in spite of Smith’s intention not to side with one particular religious tradition, the term “ faith” has a Semitic flavor to it. Therefore, Hick rephrases it asserting the importance of “ the transformation of human existence from self-centredness to Reality centredness.” “ Self-centredness” is the tendency of people to think only about their own well-being or, at most, the well-being of people within their same religious circle. This attitude could easily be derived from the idea that, amongst all the religions that exist in the world, one's own religion is superior because it is the only true gospel while all other religions are false. “ Reality-centredness,” on the other hand, means that rather than thinking only of the closed circle around you or your religious group, you must open both 35 The original (English) book was published in 1985, but Endo mentions its translated book called Shukvo tagenshugi (^ ffc ^ 7 £ ± !!S ) published in 1990 in Japan. 36 Endo mentions this on his diary dated September, 5, 1991. 28 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. your eyes and heart and look at the reality surrounding you - the world. In other words, Hick argues that we have to move away from “ the negative response of a self-enclosed consciousness which is blind to the divine presence, whether beyond us or in the depths of our own being, to a positive openness to the Divine which gradually transforms us and which is called liberation or enlightenment” (Hick, 29). And, importantly, this "Divine" that Hick talks about is not only for one particular religious doctrine, but should be common to all the major religions of the world. To support his argument, Hick notes two important suppositions about religion. One is that religion is not a static entity but a living organism that changes over time. It changes the form depending on when and where it is practiced, as well as who practices it. Hick exemplifies the case of Buddhism and says that Buddhism has several forms. For instance, Buddhism in India and in Japan is different, and Buddhism in the time of Gautama and after the development of Mahanaya is not the same. This is not unique to Buddhism; religions are best viewed as a gathering of different systems under the same name. The other supposition is the fact that people’s choice of religion has a very strong connection to their birthplace. Those who were born in France w ill most likely become Catholics, whereas the majority of people born in India w ill end up believing in Hinduism. There are, of course, exceptions; sometimes people, particularly after growing up, choose a religion which is different from what is prevalent in their environment. An American may choose to practice Buddhism instead of Christianity and a Japanese person may decide to become Catholic. 29 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Nonetheless, there is no denying that the majority of people choose their religion because it is the tradition of the country or the community that they were born in. From this perspective, the choice of one’s religion can be considered quite accidental. Hick also argues for the importance of cultural influences in every part of human life. We are human in one or other of the various concrete ways of being human, which constitute the cultures of the earth. There is a Chinese way of being human, an African way, an Arab way, a European way, or ways and so on. There are not fixed moulds but living organisms, which develop and interact over the centuries, so that the patterns of human life change, usually very slowly but sometimes with startling rapidity. But we are all formed in a hundred ways of which we are not normally aware by the culture into which we were born, by which we are fed, and with which we interact. (Hick 30-31) Thus, when cultural influence over one’s way of being is so enormous, variety of doctrines and outlooks of religions must inevitably be, at least partially, a result of cultural influence. In addition, people who were born in a certain country or region inevitably w ill be affected by the religion around them without even realizing it. Looking at religion from the viewpoint of the relationship between religious faith and tradition, Hick suggests that three approaches can be distinguished; exclusivism, inclusivism, and religious pluralism. Since Hick himself is a Christian, he explains each situation in terms of Christian community, but it can be applied to other religions as well. The exclusivists are those who relate a particular tradition to salvation and believe that only those who have faith in that tradition, such as the Christian God, 30 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. can be saved. Those who do not believe in God would be left out from salvation. The inclusivists are those who think that everyone, whether they believe in Christianity or not, w ill be saved. They think that those who do not believe in Christianity simply do not know the truth and that was why they either reject it or falsely believe in other religions. Yet, inclusivists would think, those who do not know the superiority of Christianity can still be saved because it is not their fault that they are ignorant and because God forgives and helps every one of them even if they do not actively participate in Christian practices. According to Hick, the number of Christian exclusivists is on the decline, and the current trend of main Christian churches is that of inclusivism. He argues, however, even inclusivism is not satisfactory as a way of thinking today because it still assumes the superiority of one’s religion, and also, “ when salvation is acknowledged to be taking place without any connection with the Christian Church or Gospel, in people who are living on the basis of other faiths, is it not a somewhat empty gesture to insist upon affixing a Christian label to them?” (34) Furthermore, if believing in anything else can lead you to go to Christian heaven, why should one necessarily become a Christian? Hick therefore rejects both exclusivism and inclusivism and proposes the idea of religious pluralism which allows people to believe in the religion that they feel fit, without rejecting other religions or insisting upon its singular superiority. Stated philosophically such a pluralism is the view that the great world faiths embody different perceptions and conceptions of, and correspondingly different responses to, the Real or the Ultimate from within the major variant cultural ways of being human; and that within each of them the transformation of human existence from self-centredness to Reality- centredness is manifestly taking place - and taking place, so far as human 31 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. observation can tell, to much the same extent Thus the great religious traditions are to be regarded as alternative soteriological ‘spaces’ within which, or ‘ ways’ along which, men and women can find salvation/liberation/enlightenment/fulfillment. (Hick 36-7) Hick’s point is that there is something beyond human power which he calls the “ Ultimate” or the “ Divine,” but it may not necessarily be the Christian God. Rather, the Christian God is only one of many faces that the Ultimate has; a Buddhist calls it Buddha or nirvana, and a Hindu calls it Brahman, and so on. Although Endo’s initial problem was somewhat different from Hick’s multicultural approach, this is similar to Endo’s way of looking at religion. Endo calls it “ X ” instead, but he acknowledges that it can be named differently in different environments. Religion is after all a tool, a means to the greater truth. The mythologist Joseph Campbell also talks about religion in “ The Message of Myth” and “ Masks of Eternity” and says that religions are great metaphors, but metaphors nonetheless. Thousands of myths exist in the world because of different cultures that express the same idea using different methods, languages and disguises. What is important, however, is the message behind the metaphors, which can be discovered by studying and examining the myths from different cultures. Campbell also mentions that he found surprisingly similar ideas behind many myths from different cultures. He does not mention or refer to the idea of religious pluralism, but the basic concept that Campbell holds seems to be essentially the same as Hick’s idea of religious pluralism and Endo’s approach to religion. 32 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. By comparing the earlier essays to the later ones, it becomes clear that Endo’s philosophy about literature remained essentially the same; he firm ly believed from the beginning to the end of his career that literature is about human beings and not about God. Subsequently, his rejection of the literature that propagates religious doctrines was also unchanged. On the other hand, his view towards Catholicism appears to show some changes. His earlier praise for the system of dichotomy was replaced with his appreciation for Buddhist ideas that deny clear division of seemingly opposing sides, such as good and evil. Additionally, he found common threads between the concept of “ alaya” in Buddhism and the notion of the unconscious proposed by Jung, which Endo argues is also present in some works of Catholic literature. Nonetheless, his growing appreciation for other religions and the studies of psychology do not mean that Endo abandoned Catholicism; he was a Catholic until his death. But, from the beginning, Endo was never quite comfortable with the strong monotheistic restrictions of Catholicism. In his earlier essays, he accepted certain aspects of Catholicism positively and even suggested that the Japanese must adapt them, such as the notion of morality. Yet, Endo never embraced the monotheistic principles of Christianity that asked him to abandon and deny the existence of different belief systems in his Japanese heritage. 33 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Japan has a unique history in terms of religion. From earlier times to this day, Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism3 7 co-existed peacefully3 8 . Somehow, Japan has developed a way to combine different religions and accept them altogether. Kami and Buddha co-exist without any conflict, and a typical Japanese person practices both religions in his or her everyday life. The reason Christianity was banned during the Edo period was due to political motives. After the Meiji period, Christianity was allowed, although the number of Christians remains only about 1 % of the whole population in present day Japan3 9 . I suspect that the reason that the majority of the Japanese people cannot fully adapt to Christianity is its monotheistic dogma, which asks one to abandon the cultural heritage of Japan. In Endo’s case, he overcame the conflict because he is a writer4 0 who investigated the issue fully and he found a way to reconcile those different aspects of life. For common Japanese people, it is still hard to bear the monotheistic rules of Christianity, especially when Buddhism and Shintoism have such a long history and tradition as well as intriguing philosophies of their own. In the mind of the Japanese, 37 Confucianism is not usually considered to be a religion, but it is listed here since the concepts and practices from Confucianism are as prevalent as Buddhism and Shintoism in Japan. 38 There were a few time periods when the government tried to promote one religion over the others. For instance, during the Meiji period, the military government promoted Shintoism and demanded that people believe in the Emperor as the only and true kami (which lead the demotion of Buddhism). 39 According to the Bunkacho (Agency of Cultural Affairs) survey in 2000, there are about 908,000 Christians and 442,000 Catholics out of 127,000,000 people (the whole population of Japan). 40 Perhaps, his job as a writer provided him with opportunities to observe human beings very closely both from outside and inside the human mind, and this observation might have helped Endo not to abandon his Japanese heritage, which he must have felt true to his heart. At the same time he did not abandon his Catholic belief because it was given to him by his beloved mother, and through his struggles, it probably became part of him as well. 34 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I believe there is a way of thinking that accepts more than one god, more than one truth. Even though he became a Catholic at an early age, Endo must have unconsciously inherited this sense of flexibility and versatility of religion. Consequently, even his decision to adhere to Catholicism could never change his underlying acceptance of many ways of practicing religion. This is probably another reason why Endo immediately identified himself with Hick’s Religious Pluralism. The idea of Religious Pluralism is clearly seen in his last novel, Deep River, which w ill be discussed in the latter part of this paper. 35 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS OF ENDO’S FICTION This chapter focuses on two of Endo’s representative works of fiction, Silence (1966) and Deep River 11993). Following close examinations of each work in the final section of this chapter, I w ill compare the two novels and show the transformations of Endo’s philosophy regarding religion. Silence was an instant success and awarded the Tanizaki Jun’ichiro Prize. It is usually the novel Endo is most know for. It was, nonetheless, a controversial novel especially amongst Christians in Japan, because it directly posed questions regarding God’s existence. However, it is not a religious book but a work of fiction, and Endo’s belief in a separation between literature and religion is evident in the novel. Deep River, written in 1993, is Endo’s last major work, and he seems to have been aware that this was going to be so; he expresses such concerns in the novel's composition notes. Deep River unmistakably stands as the culmination of Endo’s philosophy. The reader can observe several quite different approaches to the notion of religion that includes Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Endo won the Mainichi Cultural Arts Award for Deep River in 1994. Analysis of “ Silence” When Silence was first published in 1966 in Japan, the book caused quite a controversy. In Catholic churches, the followers were told not to read it, and 36 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. schools in Nagasaki and Kagoshima banned the book4 1 . Despite such controversy, it became a best seller and was awarded the Tanizaki Jun’ichiro Prize. According to Ishiuchi Toru, the evaluation of Silence was divided4 2 . On one side, critics such as Eto Jun, Kawakami Tetsutaro, and Yamamoto Kenkichi regarded it highly. People from Catholic churches, such as Hakuya Koichi, Yanaibara Isaku, however, questioned some aspects of the story, such as the description of Japan as a swamp in which Christianity can never grow and Rodrigues' act of stepping on the fumie4 3 . Critics asserted such scenes demonstrated a rejection of Christianity. I w ill argue, however, that this book should not be read only from the viewpoint of religious implications because it is not a book about Christianity. It is the story of one human being's tribulations. This human being happens to be a Catholic priest. Before I delve into my analysis, I would like to first provide a brief summary of Silence. The main character is a Portuguese Priest named Rodrigues. He goes to Japan to preach while serious Christian persecution is in progress during the 17,h century. Rodrigues is well aware of the danger of entering Japan, but he has conviction that this is his mission. When Rodrigues and Garrpe, another priest accompanying him, arrive in Japan, they are able to settle into a small village where many hidden Christians live. They offer Mass, hear confessions and give 4 1 Endo, Shusaku and Gessel, Van C., eds. “ Endo Shusaku” to Shusaku Endo. Tokyo: Syujunsha, 1994. 98. 42 Ishiuchi, Toru. Endo Shusaku sakuhinron syii. Tokyo: Kuresu shuppan, 2002. 359-364. 43 Fumie (SSJizs) is a portrayal of either Christ or Mary that was used to discover hidden Christians under the persecution of Christianity in the 17t h century Japan. In order to prove that they are not Christian, those who are suspected are ordered to trample on it. 37 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. instructions. The people in the village hide them and bring them food. They spend several months in this manner, quite content and happy to know that Christianity is not extinct and that they are able to conduct their activities as priests. Eventually, however, they are detected and the peasants who helped them are put to death. Garrpe is also caught and executed. Rodrigues is ready to die; in fact, he dreams about his martyrdom. When he is caught, however, the lord of the district, Inoue, tries to persuade him to abandon his faith. Inoue promises Rodrigues that he will save the lives of peasants if Rodrigues apostatizes. Also, as a strategy of persuasion, Inoue arranges a meeting with another priest, Ferreira, who was actually Rodrigues’ mentor when they were in Portugal. Rodrigues is immensely shocked because Ferreira used to be an extremely devout priest; Rodrigues would never have thought Ferreira capable of abandoning his Christian faith. Confronted with the realization that Ferreira has been converted, now has a Japanese name, and even has a wife and a child, Rodrigues accuses him of throwing away his faith. Ferreira tells Rodrigues that Japan is like a swamp in which Christianity can never be rooted. The swamp simply causes Christianity to perish. Ferreira also argues that the appearance of Christianity's spread throughout Japan was never real. According to Ferreira, the Japanese did not believe in the Christian God “ till this day and have never had the concept of God; and they never w ill” (Silence 149). What looks like the Christian God is actually not a true Christian God, he argues. “ The Japanese twisted God to their own way of thinking in a way we can never imagine. ... It is like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web. At 38 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. first it is certainly a butterfly, but the next day only the externals, the wings and the trunk, are those of a butterfly; it has lost its true reality and has become a spider’s web: only the exterior form of God remains, but it has already become a skeleton” (Silence 149k Because of what Ferreira tells him, combined with Rodrigues’ growing suspicion towards God’s silence - or even God’s existence - Rodrigues finally steps on the fumie to show that he apostatizes from Christianity. In exchange, the lord of the district spares the peasants’ lives. A t the very moment he steps on the fumie, Rodrigues hears the voice of God telling him to go ahead and trample his face, because, God tells him, he is there to share Rodrigues' pain. After the conversion, Rodrigues is given a Japanese name, a Japanese house, and even a Japanese wife. His job now is to help government officials distinguish whether imported goods are something related to Christianity. He acknowledges that he would have been already expelled from the mission and deprived of all his rights as a priest in his home country. In fact, Rodrigues realizes, he would probably be regarded as a renegade by the missionaries. He cannot help feeling desolate. Yet, even though he is a renegade from the viewpoint of the church, Rodrigues still firm ly believes he has kept his faith in Christ. Moving to the discussion of Silence, the first question we should consider is whether this is a Catholic propaganda novel or not. In many of his essays, Endo emphasizes the importance of avoiding the creation of a work of literature that 39 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. becomes a literature of apologetics4 4 . Despite the apparent theme - Rodrigues’ faith in the Christian God - there is no place where Christian ideology is preached or propagated. According to William Johnston who translated Silence into English, some Christians in Japan criticized this novel after its first publication by saying that it was an anti-Christian novel. They accused Endo of doubting the existence of God in the novel because, they claimed, a true Christian would never ask questions such as those posed in Silence. Particularly interesting is the response of Yanaibara who thinks that the apostasy of the two priests, Ferreira and Rodrigues, is simply due to their lack of faith rather than an act for the peasants dying for God. Yanaibara argues that the Japanese peasants had faith, but the Portuguese priests who apostatized did not (Johnston xvii). It appears that those who denounced Silence as an anti-Christian novel see it as a work of apologetics, rather than recognizing it as a work of fiction with a Christian priest as the main character. In fact, they seem quite oblivious that Silence is a work of fiction at all. Granted, there were real life examples of Portuguese priests who might have behaved in ways similar to Endd's characters. Many of the events, such as the execution of Christians and the use of the fumie, are historical facts. Nonetheless, the novel is Endo’s creation. Endo never claimed that what he wrote in the story should be taken as fact. 44 For instance, Endo repeatedly emphasis this point in ‘The Problems Confronting the Catholic Author.” 40 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Yanaibara strongly objected to the notion of Japan as a swamp where Christianity can never grow. Yet Endo uses this metaphor ambiguously, which allows for several different interpretations. The idea that Christianity is incapable of taking root in Japan is, perhaps, very threatening or disturbing for those who believe in the Christian faith and its viability in Japan. Such readers should consider that, although Ferreira appeared to be persuaded, Rodrigues' ultimate beliefs regarding this issue are not at all clear. Therefore, the reader has a choice to accept this metaphor, or reject it. One can freely interpret that Rodrigues keeps his faith until his death because he claims to have heard God’s voice. One can also infer from the text that both Ferreira and Rodrigues lost their faith when they apostatized. However, Gessel argues this interpretation is quite shallow because, in fact, Endo rebuts Ferrira's argument that Christianity in Japan is like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web - that it has form but does not have substance - through the characterization of Rodrigues. Rodrigues claims to have cast off the form of Christianity by stepping on the fumie, but keeps his substance by maintaining his faith in Christ (254). Gessel’s interpretation is one way of looking at the text, but the fact that no definitive answer is given might be the reason why some Christians attacked the story. They might have expected more apologetics in the story, which it deliberately lacks. From a totally different viewpoint, Eto asserts that Silence has to be read as a work of literature and that it is meaningless to try to find problems of Christianity 41 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. in it 4 5 (Eto, 93). Eto contends Silence presents figures of the father and the mother irreconcilably placed against each other. The image of this incongruous relationship is, on one level, probably due to Endo’s experience of his parents’ divorce when he was little. Eto argues that Endo must have felt guilty towards his mother when he lived with his father later on. When Rodrigues steps on the, fumie, Eto explains, it is symbolic because a public figure of the fatherly God is destroyed, and the motherly God replaces him. In Silence. Endo chooses to kill the father and have the mother gain victory because of Endo’s personal feeling of guilt and betrayal of his own mother. Eto further argues that Endo’s choice to become a Catholic - which Eto deems a fatherly religion - can be seen as another instance of betrayal against his mother. Endo, therefore, had to allow the mother to win against the father in order to be forgiven by her. Thus, as Eto argues, it is not that God, or the father, is simply silent; he was made silent so that Endo can give an opportunity for the mother to say “ Go ahead, step on the fumie,” thus making her the chosen one. In Silence, the fatherly God appears thoroughly defeated. Therefore, according to Eto, Rodrigues is nothing but the Japanese author himself. Eto’s analysis is fascinating, and Endo also seems to have found Eto’s argument quite valid4 6 . Thus, Eto views the issues of religion in Silence as a mere 4 3 Shitagatte “ Chinmoku” no kando ni shinko no (kirisuto kyo no) mondai o miyo to suru kaishaku niwa subete imiga naku. kono sakuhin wa ippen no bungaku sakuhin to shite yomareru igai n in a i ( l s t c t f ? T rjfclKj (DSKHCllfflKD ( + UX |! 5 1 f i£ J f .c f c 5 tt Z M m U Z ) (Eto 99). 46 Endo comments on Eto’s observation and says that, even though it was not done intentionally or consciously, Eto is correct to point out the motherly image of God in Silence. “Taidan: Bungaku-jakusha no ronri Endo Shusaku & Miyoshi Yukio ($ ti& : 42 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. mask or metaphor for the author’s longing for the mother. Eto therefore asserts that the novel should not be read only from a religious point of view. These widely varying interpretations and mixed reactions serve as an indication of Endo’s success as a writer and the text’s independence as a work of literature. Regardless of the how various readers perceive the intentions of Endo's work, they seem to agree Silence is a powerful novel. The success of Silence as a superb literary work is also seen in the depiction of the protagonist, Rodrigues, whose character is quite complicated. On one hand, Rodrigues is a devout Christian priest who feels pity for the peasants and tries to help them as much as he can. On the other hand, he is egotistical, prideful, and vain. The dearest example of his dark side is his attitude toward a peasant named Kichijiro. Kichijiro is a sinner in the sense that he does not have strength to remain committed to his faith; he steps on tht fumie very easily, even more than once. Furthermore, he betrays Rodrigues and turns him over to the district officials. Rodrigues sometimes plainly hates Kichijiro. When he had seen this fellow [Kichijiro| at the shore, he had been too tired even to hate him; but now he was simply incapable of showing any generosity. Seething with anger he reflected on the scene in the plain when the dried fish he had been forced to eat caused in his throat that terrible thirst. ... when he saw the trembling face of this fellow as he squatted on the ground, sometimes raising his eyes like a whipped dog, a black and cruel emotion rose from the very depths of his being. (Silence4 7 100) )” in Gunnzoo Nihon no sakka 22 Endo Shusaku .Tokyo: Shogakkan,1991. 236-256. 4*7 ' Endo, Shusaku. Silence. Trans. William Johnson. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1980. 43 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Although he is a priest, Rodrigues displays “ a black and cruel emotion” towards another human being. Also, after Rodrigues is put in jail, Kichijiro comes to beg forgiveness, but Rodrigues ignores him. The priest closed his eyes and began to recite the Credo. He felt a sense of joy in being able to abandon this whimpering fellow in the rain. Even though Christ prayed, Judas had hanged himself in the field of blood - and had Christ prayed for Judas? There was nothing about that in the Scriptures; and even if there was, he could not put himself into such a frame of mind as to be able to do likewise. In any case, to what extent could the fellow be trusted? He was looking for pardon; but this perhaps was no more than a passing moment of excitement. (Silence 114) But the priest realizes that he is not supposed to refuse to give penance to anyone; it is his duty as a priest. Thus, he gives Kichijiro the sacrament. Heaving a deep sigh and searching for words of explanation, Kichijiro shifted and shuffled. The stench of his filth and sweat was wafted toward the priest. Could it be possible that Christ loved and searched after this dirtiest of men? In evil there remained that strength and beauty of evil; but this Kichijiro was not even worthy to be called evil. He was thin and dirty like the tattered rags he wore. Suppressing his disgust, the priest recited the final words of absolution, and then, following the established custom, he whispered, ‘Go in peace.’ With all possible speed getting away from the stench of that mouth and that body, he returned to where the Christians were. (Silence 115) It is clear that Rodrigues cannot love Kichijiro; he almost despises him. The ritual of the sacrament is given merely as a formality. Rodrigues does so only out of his sense of duty, not with a genuine blessing. Granted, Kichijiro is a sneaky fellow, and he betrayed Rodrigues and other Christians. However, if Rodrigues wants to behave like a saint, he should forgive Kichijiro and pray for him sincerely. But Rodrigues is a living human being as well as a priest. He simply cannot suppress his hatred towards Kichijiro, who is weak, miserable, and dirty. Even when, after Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. thinking about God later on the same day, Rodrigues realizes that he did not treat Kichijiro properly, he still cannot control his emotions. Rodrigues is able to realize the evil nature of his actions only when he feels the pain his behavior is causing Christ. We therefore see the conflicting emotions in Rodrigues. On one hand, he knows what he should do and what he should feel as a priest; he even knows his contempt for Kichijiro is shameful. On the other hand, as an individual who was betrayed by Kichijiro, he cannot fully accept him. Compared to other brave Christians who sacrificed their lives and never apostatized, Kichijiro is far from Rodrigues’ ideal of a Christian and even far from Rodrigues' conception of an ideal Japanese person. Other negative aspects of Rodrigues' character show themselves several times in the form of ego or pride. For example, Rodrigues feels a little disappointed when captured because it is not quite “ heroic” as he imagined. He secretly wanted it to be like the scene when Christ was captured. Also, after he meets with his former mentor, Ferreira, he compares himself, believing that he is better than his former mentor. Ferreira betrayed himself, and he is even trying to lure Rodrigues to abandon his faith as well. “ And so, comparing his own loneliness and sadness with that of Ferreira, he felt for the first time some self-respect and satisfaction - and he was able quietly to laugh. Then, lying down on the hard, bare floor, he waited for the onrush of sleep” (153). Rodrigues’ ego is satisfied only by comparing himself to another human being and considering himself a better person. By reveling in his 45 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. own sense of superiority, Rodrigues is finally able to sleep. This behavior of provides a clearer picture of the man who is not only a priest, but also a human being with his own ego and pride; he needs reassurance that he is better than others. These examples of Rodrigues’ negative characteristics, mixed with his good and humane nature, provide a more complex picture. However, the most important aspect of Rodrigues that adds depth to his depiction is his emerging doubt about the existence of God. Rodrigues is never uncertain about God until he witnesses the ruthless execution of two Christian peasants. Although he knows the rationale for the sacrifice, his heart does not seem to be fully satisfied with the explanation. But I know what you w ill say: ‘Their death was not meaningless. It was a stone which in time w ill be the foundation of the Church; and the Lord never gives us a trial which we cannot overcome. Mokichi and Ichizo are with the Lord. Like the numerous Japanese martyrs who have gone before, they now enjoy everlasting happiness.’ I also, of course, am convinced of all this. And yet, why does this feeling of grief remain in my heart? Why does the song of the exhausted Mokichi, bound to the stake, gnaw constantly at my heart? (SHence 60) Rodrigues says he is “ convinced,” but apparently, he is not. He cannot remove the feeling of sorrow and uncertainly using the explanation that he learned in church. From this point on, Rodrigues begins to ask the question of why God is silent. Eventually, this question leads to the question of whether God really exists. To distrust the existence of God is not ideal behavior for any serious Christian, particularly a priest. When Rodrigues witnesses the merciless persecution of the Christians, however, it is probably a natural reaction for him to question the principles that were supposed to explain everything. He is not as strong as he 46 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. thought. Observing his struggle, we see a human being desperately trying to find an answer. Rodrigues’ confrontation with his doubt is also seen as an instance of the fight between two opposing sides. Endo suggests that, in order to create good novels in Japan, with its inherent lack of strong opposing forces, writers should use the dichotomy between the world with God and the world without God, and make them compete with each other. Obviously, Rodrigues represents the force of the world with God. On one level, the force of Rodrigues - one who preaches Christianity in Japan - competes with Japan, the world without God. Rodrigues does have philosophical arguments with several Japanese officials, and even with Ferreira, where they argue that Christianity simply does not fit into this God-less land. On another level, the conflict is inside Rodrigues’ mind; his trust in God, and his doubt in God. For instance, we see Rodrigues fighting against his doubt in the following scene. But now there arose up within my heart quite suddenly the sound of the roaring sea as it would ring in my ears when Garrpe and I lay alone in hiding on the mountain. The sound of those waves that echoed in the dark like a muffled drum; the sound of those waves all night long, as they broke meaninglessly receded, and then broke again on the shore. This was the sea that relentlessly washed the dead bodies of Mokichi and Ichizo, the sea that swallowed them up, the sea that, after their death, stretched out endlessly with unchanging expressions. And like the sea God was silent. His silence continued. No, No! I shook my head. If God does not exist, how can man endure the monotony of the sea and its cruel lack of emotion? (But supposing ... of course, supposing, I mean.) Form the deepest core of my being yet another voice made itself heard in a whisper. Supposing God does not e xist... (Silence 68) 47 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Rodrigues then naturally tries to answer his own doubts, since this is an almost unbearable situation for him. Plucking the grass as I went along I chewed it with my teeth, suppressing these thoughts that rose nauseatingly in my throat. I knew well, of course, that the greatest sin against God was despair; but the silence of God was something that I could not fathom. ‘The Lord preserved the just man when godless folk were perishing all around him. Escape he should when fire came down upon the Cities of the Plain.’ Yet now, when the barren land was already emitting smoke while the fruit on the trees was still unripe, surely he should speak but a word for the Christians. (Silence 69) In the end, Rodrigues steps on the fumie, which is considered to be a sign of apostasy. But when he steps on the fumie, he hears the voice of God for the first time. The priest raises his foot. In it he feels a dull heavy pain. This is no mere formality. He w ill now trample on what he has considered the most beautiful thing in his life, on what he has believed most pure, on what is filled with the ideals and the dreams of man. How his feet aches! And then the Christ in bronze speaks to the priest: ‘Trample! Trample! 1 more than anyone know the pain in your foot. Trample! It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share men’s pain that I carried my cross.’ The priest placed his foot on the fumie. Dawn broke. And far in the distance the cock crowed. (Silence 171) Thus, the question of which side of Rodrigues wins remains unanswered after all. Although Rodrigues hears God’s voice here, we do not know if it is really God’s voice or Rodrigues’ imagination.4 8 What is important is that Rodrigues thinks and believes that he finally hears God’s voice. In this novel, the important 48 In the English translation, there are brackets for the speech of God, but in the Japanese original, there are no brackets. This makes the scene quite ambiguous as to whether what Rodrigues hears is the speech of God or his imagination. 48 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. matter is the struggle itself, and not the outcome. Superficially, Rodrigues apostatizes from Christianity, but it is possible that his faith in God wins by losing the fight. Interestingly, we see the merging of the two opposing values here; the distinction between the act of winning and losing begins to fade. One might find a Buddhist philosophy, such as “ Zenaku Juji often discussed in his later essays, in this almost contradictory and ambiguous outcome. Analysis of “ Deep River” Endo passed away in 1996, and Deep River became his last major work of fiction. It was published in 1993 in Japan, and its English translation was published in England in 1994. The publication of the English translation was surprisingly fast, because Gessel, who also appears to be a good friend of Endo, began translating it while Endo was still writing. It is clearly recorded in his “ Fukai kawa” sosaku nikki5 0 ( rjjJ£(A;nJj iPJfF B IE, Composition Notes for “ Deep River” ) that Endo was quite aware of his health problem when he conceived the ideas for the novel, and that he wanted to complete this novel as his last important work. The book received the Mainichi Cultural Arts Award in 1994 and it became, as Endo had wished, one of his representative works. What is special about Deep River is that almost everything that Endo accomplished in his life is woven into the story. The history 49 This means something like “Good and evil are non-dual.” < 5 0 Endo, Shusaku. “Fukai kawa” sosaku nikki. Tokyo: Kodansha, 2000. 49 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. of Endo’s philosophical journey about religion, his changed view towards what he calls “ Onion” or God from the time of Silence, and the notion of rebirth proposed by Jung are all in this novel. I w ill start with the synopsis of the story, followed by the analysis of the novel. There are five major characters in this story: Isobe, Mitsuko, Numada, Kiguchi, and Otsu. They are all participating in the same tour of India, each for their own personal reasons, with the exception of Otsu, who is already living in India to carry out a mission of taking care of the poor people who come to the Ganges River. Isobe lost his wife to cancer. On her deathbed, she told him that she would be reborn into this world and asked him to find her again. Isobe does not really believe in reincarnation, but because he loves his wife and because her plea was sincere, he tries to grant her dying wish. Isobe hears that a research team at the University of Virginia is conducting a scientific investigation of reincarnation. He makes an inquiry, and the research team informs him of a case in India of a little girl claiming that she was a Japanese woman in her previous life. Mitsuko is a divorcee, who was involved with Otsu when they were both in college. She seduced him and, shortly thereafter, dumped him; he was often looked down upon because he was considered a bore, and his Catholic background annoyed many . However, Mitsuko was never quite able to forget Otsu. She once saw him when he was in a seminary in France, but she learns that Otsu is now in India. She 50 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. does not know why she wants to see him again. She has no more romantic feelings for Otsu, but there seems to be something that she wants from him. Numada is a writer of children’s books who has undergone a very dangerous operation. Fortunately, he survives, but when he wakes from a coma, he discovers a myna bird that he befriended has died during his operation. He believes that the bird perished for him, taking Numada's place in death. Thus, he wants to return the favor by saving the same kind of bird, which originates in India. Kiguchi is a war veteran. Kiguchi’s friend Tsukada, who saved Kiguchi’s life during World War II, died recently. Before he passed away, Tsukada confessed that he ate the flesh of his comrade during the war. This memory tormented Tsukada throughout the rest of his life. After Tsukada's death, Kiguchi begins to read books about Buddhism and decides to go to India to pray for both Tsukada and those who died during the war. Otsu is a Catholic priest, who now works in India, helping those who come to the River Ganges to die. Some of them are unable to reach the destination alive. So, to help those who fall short of their intended goal, Otsu takes the dead bodies to a cremation ground. During his college years, Otsu almost abandoned God because he wanted to sleep with Mitsuko. After she ruthlessly broke up with him, Otsu returned to God. He traveled to Lyon, France to be trained as a Catholic priest. In the seminary, however, Otsu confronted many doubts about the way in which Catholicism is conducted in Europe. Because of his Japanese heritage, he never felt fully at home with the dry, very logical way of looking at the doctrine. His idea was 51 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. not accepted in the European seminary, so he came to India where he lives, at the time of the story, with Hindu ascetics. He is still Catholic, but Otsu is now certain that there can be and should be different ways to conduct Catholicism. His choice is to stay in India, help people reach the Ganges, and take care of their dead bodies. During their stay in India, the four who traveled from Japan are able, somewhat, to carry out their objectives. However, just before they leave to return to Japan, Otsu is severely attacked and has his neck broken while trying to protect a thoughtless Japanese photographer taking pictures of corpses and the mourners. When Mitsuko asks the tour guide to make a phone call at the airport to inquire about Otsu's state, she is informed he is in critical condition. To analyze Deep River. I w ill focus upon two issues: first, the way religion is handled, and second, the presentation in the novel of Jung’s notion of unconscious and rebirth. Throughout his career, Endo was consistent in his belief that a novel must be independent of any religious doctrine, and this work is no exception. No religious doctrine is preached through the text. Yet, like Endo’s many other novels, issues regarding religion constitute one of the most important layers of the story. Yet, what makes this work different from many of Endo’s novels is the prominent influence of Jung’s notions of the unconscious as well as rebirth is prominent. To examine the notion of rebirth, I w ill primarily use Williams’ analysis of Deep River in terms of Jung’s categorization of rebirth. The fact that the story is set in India is crucial. Although India is considered a part of Asia, it is geographically located between the Western world and Japan. 52 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The story is fused with the elements of different religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism. Even elements of Shintoism can be identified, although not as prominently as the other religions just mentioned. For instance, one clear Buddhist element is the case of Kiguchi; he believes in Buddhism and originally comes to India to go to Buddhist temples. Kiguchi is a little surprised to learn that Buddhism is no longer a principal religion in India. Still, he consoles the souls of the dead by chanting the Amida Buddha sutra for his friend, Tsukada, and others who died for the war. Isobe, on the other hand, comes to India dubious of the notion of reincarnation, which is a common belief in Buddhism. And Numada believes in "migawari," which is a well-known concept in Japan involving the notion of an entity taking one's place in times of great difficulty. Specifically, Numada believes the myna bird died for him5 1 . In typical Japanese fashion, Numada does not identify himself as either Buddhist or Shinto, but he does believe the bird protected him from death. He cannot help but feel the need to do something for the bird. Kiguchi, Isobe and Numada all represent common variations of the way Japanese people practice and believe in religions. This being the case, although none of them have any previous knowledge or interest in Hinduism, they are equally interested in Hinduism and the River Ganges, as they view Hindu temples. 5 1 In Shintoism, people keep omamori, or a charm, to protect them from various disasters because they believe that the omamori will become migawari. The concept of m igawari is prevalent in Buddhism as well in the form of m igawari jiz o (H 'ftfo U i f e l ! ) Jizo is the short form of Jizo- bosatsu, who is a Buddhist deity. M igaw ari jiz o is a type of stone statue of Jizo, who is believed to suffer in place of people. Many m igawari jizo are still placed all over Japan. 53 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Mitsuko, however, is the one who is most fascinated with Hinduism, particularly with the goddesses she encounters in the temples. For instance, she identifies with the goddess Kali, who possesses both good and evil within her. Two days earlier, at the New Delhi National Museum, Mitsuko had stared at their collection of photographs depicting the goddess Kali. ... the goddess Kali was gazing towards her, her arms outstretched, her eyes brimming with gentleness. Her lips had - or had Mitsuko just imagined it? - curled into a smile. On the next page, that smiling Kali sucked warm blood from the blood-soaked demon Raktavija. She held up a freshly severed head, and blood flecked her lips as she poked out her long tongue. Mitsuko flicked back and forth between the photograph and the painting, and felt that both images were herself. (Deep River 115) Mitsuko has been aware of her different selves since when she was in college. On the one hand, she was a typical young college student, appearing to enjoy her college life. On the other hand, she could be malicious and evil, hurting men like Otsu. Her marriage was an attempt to become “ normal” and to get rid of her evil self. She realized that she could not, hence the divorce. After the divorce, to fill the gap she felt in her heart, she volunteered at a hospital and took good care of the patients. Still, she was quite aware that she did not really care for them from her heart. She has a self that looks at dying people with cold and unsympathetic eyes. This dual nature within herself causes Mitsuko to identify with the goddess Kali. Another goddess that captivates Mitsuko is Chamunda. A t a Hindu temple, the group's tour guide, Enami, describes the goddess in the following terms; Chamunda lives in graveyards. A t her feet you can see human corpses that have been pecked by birds and devoured by jackals. ... Her breasts droop like those of an old woman. And yet she offers milk from her withered breasts to the children who line up before her. Can you see how her right leg has festered as though afflicted with leprosy? Her belly 54 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. has caved from hunger, and scorpions have stung her there. Enduring all these ills and pains, she offers milk from her sagging breasts to mankind. (Deep River 139-140) In Chamunda, Mitsuko recognizes the image of the Asian mother who “ groans beneath the weight of the torments of this life,” which is “ utterly different from the lofty, dignified Holy Mother of Europe” (Deep River 175). Again, what attracts Mitsuko is the dual or multiple characters that the goddess possesses. It is not the kind of gentle goddess or deity, like the Amida Buddha that forgives and embraces human beings with mercy. Rather, this Hindu goddess is composed of pain, agony, and dirt with a rather appalling strength. It penetrates Mitsuko’s heart as more truthful. Feeling no serious conflict with their own religion, the main characters are all introduced to Hinduism, regarding it with some curiosity, fascination or even sympathy. However, the reader is exposed to an instance of violent fighting between two religions; Sikhism and Hinduism. The Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, is assassinated by the Sikhs due to this conflict. Antagonism and hatred characterized not just the relationship between one nation and another; they persisted between one religion and another as well. A difference in religion had yesterday resulted in the death of the woman who had been prime minister of India. People were linked together more by enmity than by love. It was not love but the formation of mutual enemies that made a bonding between human beings possible. By such means had every nation and every religion survived over the long span of years. (Deep River 195) Clearly, Endo’s view is much broader than before; he uses India as a microcosm of the world, representative of religious conflicts and political disagreements. For 55 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. example, even though the Indian caste system does not exist on a world wide basis, caste-like divisions of between the rich and the poor, between the powerful and powerless, amongst different cultural, religious, and political ideologies. As Endo points out, the sad reality is that people tend to bond together not because of love, but because of hatred. O f course, this also applies to any sectarian religion including his chosen religion of Catholicism. Thus, India with its caste system and its multiple religious clashes is used as a metaphor for social situations that go beyond Indian culture. As mentioned before, sharing with Hick's religious pluralism, Endo expresses his belief that people need to look at reality and reach out beyond the narrow circle of one’s religion, nation or culture. As the theory of religious pluralism indicates, reaching out does not mean that different sects necessarily become the same; nor does it create a need for comparison to decide which is better. Rather, respecting differences and coexisting without denying others is the important matter. While the story shows killing and fighting against different religious groups taking place in India, it is also in India where the River Ganges is located. It might be said that the River Ganges symbolizes the ideal religion. One of the most powerful messages in the text is the image of a universal religion represented by the River Ganges. The symbolism of the Ganges is the center of the story; the river takes everything into itself and keeps flowing. It does not discriminate between humans and animals, makes no distinction of saints above criminals, and does not 56 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. distinguish the rich from the poor. It embraces and swallows everything. The tourists’ first encounter with the Ganges underscores the river's impartial nature: Reflecting the rays of the afternoon sun, the broad river cut a gentle curve as it flowed by. The surface of the water was a muddy grey and the level of the water high, making it impossible to see to the bottom. Pilgrims and pedlars still stood on the ghats. The speed of the current was evident from the movement of a grey object floating on the surface in the distance. When the tiny-looking object drew closer, it turned out to be the bloated corpse of a grey dog. But no one on the ghats paid it any attention. The holy river took not only humans, but all living things in its embrace as it flowed away. (Deep River 143-144) The river, as always, silently flowed by. The river cared nothing about the corpses that would eventually be burned and scattered into it, or about the unmoving male mourners who appeared to cradle their heads in their arms. It was evident here that death was simply a part of nature. (Deep River 144-145) The Ganges, though not a clean river in the sense of Shinto purity5 2 - transparent, clear, and free of dirt - embodies the concept of a holy river, containing both filth and purity. Its capacity encompasses all aspects of humanity and beyond; the living gather to be purified and the dead gather to be received by the great river. There is no fear of death; at the riverside, it is only part of nature. The river embraces the dead as well as the living. While the main focus of Silence is the protagonist’s struggle between two opposing positions - a belief in God in a Godless country and, ultimately, the question of God’s very existence - in Deep River, although personal struggles between two religions or cultures are perhaps touched upon somewhat, they are no longer the central issues. Instead, Deep River is about, to borrow Hick's 52 Shintoism, one of the major religions of Japan, emphasizes the importance of purity and cleansing. 57 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. terminology, the “ Ultimate, which is best defined as the common force behind all the religions in the world. Turning to the discussion of the Jungian notion of the “ unconscious” and “ rebirth” as seen in Deep River. Williams comments that the choice of India as a stage for the novel is no accident. He argues that Endo had a determination “ not merely to persist with his examination of the unconscious forces at work in the lives of his creations, but to locate the novel in ‘India, land of the unconscious’” (192). According to Williams, Endo traveled to India a few times between the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Endo described India as “ a great river in which life and death live side by side. Going to India, you come to sense the existence of another great world of a different dimension that coexists with our world” (Williams 193). A symbolic image of unconsciousness in Deep River is presented in the town of Varanashi, which is situated near the River Ganges. In Varanashi, there is a temple called Nakshar Bhagavati where, as the group's tour guide explains, ‘bhaga’ in Bhagavati refers to a woman’s genitals. The inside of the temple is hot, humid and dark with stifling air. It is described as: The dark subterranean interior. The eerie sculptures floated before their eyes. The hideousness of the images were reminiscent of the feelings of loathing that people experience when they have an unobtrusive view of the writing elements concealed beneath the level of their own conscious mind. (Deep River 138). As Mitsuko descends the steps inside the temple, she feels as if she is entering the very deepest part of the mind. Sanjo, the tour guide, explains to Mitsuko that the Indian goddesses are often presented as fearsome figures because they are symbols 58 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. of “ all activities of life, both birth, and, simultaneously, death” (Deep River 138). This temple is where Mitsuko is first exposed to the aforementioned Chamunda. The temple is metaphoric of the unconscious human mind. As suggested by Jung, as well as Endo’s interpretation of some Catholic literature such as Mauriac, the unconscious is like a womb where both sins and new life are produced. It is the place where both death and life are accommodated; this is why Mitsuko is so taken with the statues. Although somewhat different, the River Ganges can be viewed in a similar way as a form of the unconscious. It is not a closed space like the womblike temple, but the river flows dynamically by taking everything into it, both death and living. Jung argues that unconscious is the place where people’s suppressed desires accumulate; the Ganges is where death accumulates. At the same time, the power of the unconscious to regenerate from the swamp of sins and desires can be equated with the power of the river that purifies the bodies of both the dead and living. The river takes death and flows into a sea with it. The sea is generally considered as the source of life; it is a place of rebirth. The Ganges carries death and initiates life. Williams (197-198) argues that different patterns of rebirth in Jungian psychology are presented in Deep River, and suggests that there are five major patterns of rebirth5 3 : 1 ) M e t e m p s y c h o s i s , o r a t r a n s m i g r a t i o n o f t h e s o u l (T e n s e i f c d f e ) 2) Reincarnation (Umare kawari U s Rinne^mM.* Tensei I e£ ) 53 The commonly used word(s) in Japanese for these concepts appear in parentheses. 59 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3) Resurrection (Fukkatsu Saisei H £ ) 4) Rebirth within the span of individual life 5) Indirect rebirth According to Williams, while a reincarnated person keeps the same personality and retains the memory of his or her previous life, metempsychosis implies that the people who are reborn may not keep the memory or the personality of their previous lives. The notion of resurrection here has a broader meaning than the Christian assumption of the resurrection of Christ. It is a “ reestablishment of human existence after death which involves the change, transmutation, or transformation of one’s being” (197). While in Christianity, resurrection is limited to the case of Christ, Jung argues that it is possible for anyone. Now, let me explore the instances of the different types of rebirth in Deep River. First of all, reincarnation or umare-kawari is the driving force behind Isobe's travel to India. Because his wife begged Isobe to find her again after her death, and because the research group notified him of the little girl claiming she was formerly a Japanese woman, he takes a trip to India. Isobe does not succeed in finding the girl, but Mitsuko tells him that his wife is reborn in himself. Williams put the two notions umare-kawari and migawari together because he considers them both as cases of reincarnation (199), but it appears that they should be separated. As mentioned previously, the concept of migawari, as well as u m a re -ka w a ri, is well known both in Buddhism and Shintoism, but these two concepts are clearly distinguished. In the case of Isobe's belief, umare-kawari is a concept that can be equated with the notion of reincarnation, but migawari is not. 60 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Migawari is exemplified by Numada, who believes that the myna bird he kept while he was in the hospital died in his place during his life-threatening operation. The bird was migawari for him; he feels he owes his life to the bird. What Numada believes involves the idea of substitution or vicariousness, but it is different from the concept of reincarnation. According to Williams, the concept of resurrection troubles Otsu. He summarizes the importance of resurrection: It is with this concept that Otsu struggles most as he attempts to come to terms with the orthodox Christian theology with which he is confronted at the various seminaries he attends. In keeping with the Jungian model, he finds himself unable, or unwilling, to lim it his understanding of the concept in Christian terms and it is this that encourages him to quit his formal studies and to seek a broader interpretation amongst Hindu sadhus. Indeed, the entire novel can be viewed as an attempt to reconcile the Christian vision of resurrection with the other forms of rebirth as distinguished by Jung. (Williams 200) Although no obvious debate concerning Christian resurrection is provided in the text, Otsu respects and appreciates all religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism. He says God is in every religion. But while Hinduism and Buddhism consider the notion of rebirth available to everyone, Christianity does not accept any concept of rebirth and no one except Christ can be resurrected. Otsu, however, seems to have reached a realization that God is not an “ sonzai existence)” but “ hataraki , works),” an issue to which I w ill return in the next section. The fourth kind of rebirth is defined by Jung as “ a renewal without any change of being, in as much as the renewed personality is not changed in its 61 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. essential nature, only its functions, or parts of the personality are subjected to healing, strengthening, or improvement” (Williams 198). This is the kind of rebirth that takes place in one’s life without necessarily physically dying. Each of the five characters goes to India in search of some kind of answer, in other words, to be reborn. Witness the rebirth of Mitsuko as she goes into the River Ganges and bathes: Mitsuko nodded and put one leg into the river, then submerged the other. Like death itself, she hesitated just before taking the leap, but once her entire body was submerged, the unpleasant feeling disappeared. ... A t the end of her range of vision, the river gently bent, and there the light sparkled, as though it were eternity itself. I have learned, though, that there is a river o f humanity. Though / still don’t know what lies at the end o f that flowing river. But I feel as though I ’ve started to understand what I was yearning fo r through all the many mistakes o f my past. (Deep River 210) Also, in the chapter called “ Rebirth,” Kiguchi experiences his own rebirth when he goes to the banks of the Ganges with Mitsuko and chants the Amida Sutra to pray for all those who died in the war. In the same chapter, Numada goes to the sanctuary and frees a wild myna bird that he purchased at a local bird store: He tapped the outside of the cage lightly with his fingers. The myna bird came hopping out, as though in confusion, scurried along the grass, spread its wings and hesitated for a moment, then raced across the ground again. Watching its laughable movements from behind, Numada felt as though a heavy burden he had carried on his back for many years had been removed. He felt as though he had been able to make a faint gesture of gratitude towards the myna that had died for him that snowy day. (Deep River 204) Numada’s rebirth takes place as he accomplishes his mission of showing gratitude to the bird which he believes died in his place. The rebirth of these characters may 62 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. occur through what Jung categorizes as the fifth kind of rebirth, indirect rebirth. Williams quotes Jung and says “ the transformation is brought about not directly, by passing through death and rebirth oneself, but indirectly, by participating in a process of transformation that is conceived of as taking place outside the individual. In other words, one has to witness, or take part in, some rite of transformation” (198). A t the Ganges, all five members of the group witness the rites of the living bathing in the Ganges, with the ashes of the dead spread into the river. In addition, Isobe, Numada and Kiguchi all experienced the death of someone or some creature very close to their lives. Mitsuko did not have the same kind of experience as the other three, but she witnessed death through her volunteer job at the hospital. Otsu is also exposed to death on an everyday basis as his job is to find dying people and help them accomplish their passage into death. By indirectly experiencing death and observing the rites conducted at the Ganges, each of the five initiates the process of their own rebirth. From these instances of rebirth, it becomes clear that death and birth are neither separate nor opposite; death is a part of life and life begins from death. The Ganges is the cycle of life and death. Within it we also see the form of religion that Otsu and Endo view as a universal existence source, or essence, of all the world's religions. 63 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Comparison Between “ Silence” and “ Deep River” In this section, I w ill compare and contrast Silence and Deep River, and explain how the changes of Endo’s philosophy can be observed in these novels from the following five viewpoints. Firstly, the ways in which Endo structures the stories and develops the characters in these novels are markedly different. This seems to reflect the changed focus of the story; in Silence, the center of attention is a rather personal struggle regarding Christian faith while what we see in Deep River is a broader view of the situation of the religion in the world today. Secondly, the transformation of the images of death is quite remarkable. The image of bleak death represented through the dark sea in Silence is replaced with the dynamism of the River Ganges that contains both death and birth peacefully. Thirdly, while the question regarding the existence of God is one of the most prominent issues in Silence, it is no longer mentioned in Deep River, which clearly shows Endo's changed perception regarding God. Fourthly, if we regard Rodrigues and Otsu as the other selves of Endo, these two characters mark different stages of Endo as one human being who strives to find a way to keep his faith. Lastly, a female figure, Mitsuko, has a significant role in Deep River as compared to the lack of apparent female figures in Silence. One of the most noticeable differences between Silence and Deep River is the structure of the story, and the way in which the main characters are developed. In Silence, although there are several important characters, Rodrigues is by far the 64 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. most prominent; he is clearly the protagonist. It is basically Rodrigues' story and the novel focuses on depicting his actions, his inner thoughts and his emotional development. Naturally, the reader comes to know not only what Rodrigues does and what happens to him, but also his personality and his development as a human being. Silence, therefore, is a psychological novel about Rodrigues' transformation from a confident, strong priest into a weak human being. In contrast, at least five characters are major constituents in Deep River. It can be argued that Mitsuko and Otsu are probably more prominent than the other three but, in addition to narrative detailing their interactions with one another, Endo devotes separate chapters to all five characters. The reader comes to know the different histories and issues that each of the five individual characters deal with. Considering that the length of the two novels are almost equivalent, the character development of the five people in Deep River appears to be less comprehensive, compared to the thorough depiction of Silence's sole protagonist, Rodrigues. In Deep River, we are given only slices of each character’s life instead of full-fledged depictions. This is probably because Endo’s intention in Deep River is to explore what connects these five characters with very different social backgrounds. One could also argue that all five characters are parts of Endo himself, each of which gives different perspectives of the amalgamation of different selves within one being. As discussed in the previous chapter, the characters are connected through their separate encounters with death and the mutual experience of indirect rebirth at the Ganges; each comes to India and finds their salvation at the Ganges. 65 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Also, the contrastive structures of the two novels signify a change in issues that Endo wants to address through his writing. In Silence. Endo attempted to reconcile the personal conflicts he had between Eastern tradition and Western monotheism. This is depicted mainly through the thoughts and actions of Rodrigues. Conversely, in Deep River different people with different histories and agendas are shown to be connected in one place. Each character represents a different element of the world or, perhaps, a different facet of one being. Logically, one can consider Deep River representative of Endo's evolving idea of religion. Moving to the next point regarding death, in Silence death is never discussed in detail. Death appears only to represent an end, with nothing more beyond it. In that sense, it is similar to the Catholic notion of death; one’s passing is the terminal point of worldly life, and a person either goes to heaven or hell afterward. Rodrigues tries to believe that those who died for their Christian faith went to heaven, but he has difficulty convincing himself of its certitude. Death is feared, just like pain or disease. Rodrigues apostatizes because he wants to save poor peasants from death and torture. Despite the belief that those who are persecuted go to heaven, death is depicted as bleak, not glorious. In Deep River, however, death - though still feared and the source of sadness to a certain extent - is not conceptualized as an end or as something dreadful. Rather, the main part of the story is about the way death changes lives and how, after encountering death in various ways, the characters reconcile themselves to it. Isobe tries to find his deceased wife as a reincarnated girl. Although he fails, he 66 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. comes to the understanding that his wife is reborn in his heart and mind. Kiguchi prays for the dead by chanting Amida Sutras in the land near where they fought during the war and where the Buddha is from originally. Numada frees a myna bird to show gratitude to another myna he believes died for him. Finally, Mitsuko bathes in the River Ganges and experiences both death and rebirth within herself. A ll of them now look at life (jinsei A i t ) differently because of their own experiences with death and because they witness the ritual of death and birth taking place in the Ganges. The characters in the story come to realize death is contained in life and death has a potential for new life. These starkly contrasting perceptions of death are portrayed clearly in the imagery of water in both Silence and Deep River. In Silence, we see death through the sea, which swallows the bodies of Mokichi, Ichizo and Garrpe: But the martyrdom of the Japanese Christians I now describe to you was no such glorious thing. What a miserable and painful business it was! The rain falls unceasingly on the sea. And the sea which killed them surges on uncannily - in silence. (Silence 60) The dead bodies of those who achieved martyrdom are cremated and thrown into the sea. Looking at the sea, again, Rodrigues writes; Today, while writing this letter, I sometimes go out of our hut to look down at the sea, the grave of these two Japanese peasants who believed our word. The sea only stretches out endlessly, melancholy and dark, while below the grey clouds there is not the shadow of the island. (Silence 60) 67 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The image of the sea is consistently negative in Silence. The sea swallows the dead mercilessly, and it is uncommunicative. Like the silence of God, Rodrigues cannot understand the sea. On the contrary, in Deep River the image of death, though equated with the Ganges, does not instill fear into people: On the stone steps the yellow-robed Brahmin beneath his large parasol was blessing a newly-wed couple. Far away on the southern shore, the ashes of the body that had just been cremated were being shoveled into the river by three men dressed in white. Even though the waters bearing the ashes of the dead came flowing towards the bathers, no one thought it peculiar or distressing. Life and death coexisted in harmony in this river. ... A t the end of her range of vision, the river gently bent, and there the light sparkled, as though it were eternity itself. (Deep River 210) Clearly, the image of death in the Ganges is not a negative one. Death in the same place where rebirth also occurs is nothing to fear. Also, the Ganges, when viewed through Jung's concept of the unconscious, is where negative suppressions accumulate, but it is also this same unconscious from which creativity emerges. Thus, while in Silence the image of death represented by the sea is very negative, the notion is perceived much more positively, perhaps even seen as the ultimate goal, in Deep River. This definitely reflects a change in Endo. He no longer accepts the strict dichotomies imposed by orthodox Christianity upon two seemingly opposite elements such as birth and death or good and evil. Also, his understanding of the notion of the unconscious by Jung, as well as ideas from other religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, provide him with a much more extensive appreciation and awareness of death beyond the strictures of Christianity. 68 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Turning to the question regarding God’s existence, while this question is central to Rodrigues in Silence, it no longer troubles anyone in Deep River. Even Otsu, who is most comparable to Rodrigues, never raises questions regarding God’s existence. He believes God should not be discussed in terms of existence (sonzai, but rather of works/force (hataraki, fiSc?)54. Deep River seems to go beyond questions regarding God’s existence. As the difference between the words “ existence” and “ force/works” indicates, it is not an entity called God that Otsu, or Endo, regards as important. Rather, the importance lies within the essence of religion as the way in which this concept or being called “ God” works. If we look back, we actually see in Silence the inception of this idea that God’s existence itself is not what constitutes a religion. Rather, the important factor is that one's belief in God influences how he or she chooses to live. The last sentence of the main part in Silence reads; “ Even if he had been silent, my life until this day would have spoken of him5 5 ” (Silence 191). In this phrase, Rodrigues asserts that God is expressed through his life; God is hataraki rather than sonzai. Therefore, even though the question regarding the existence of God is an issue central to the story on the surface, behind the question is an already burgeoning idea 5 4 Kami wa sonzai to yu yori hataraki desu. Tanianegi wa ai no hataraku katamari nandesu a E f a ^ i a g < D ® < $ y & / v 'e - f o XFukai kawa 99). 5 5 Tatoe ano hito wa chinmoku shiteita to shitemo, watashi no kyou made no jinsei ga ano hito ni tsuite katatte ita < h D T t), %k<D^i 0 A lC D l 'X l p " 3 T l ' t o ) (Chinmoku 241). The translator uses “he” instead of “He” but it apparently refers to God. In Japanese, the term ano hito (that person) is used. 69 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. of God not as an existence but as works, which becomes more explicit in Endo’s later writings. Apparently, both Rodrigues in Silence and Otsu in Deep River show Endo’s philosophy or state of mind concerning religion at different points in time. As I just discussed the issues of the existence of God and death, Rodrigues is still in the middle of his struggle. On the other hand, what we see in Otsu is the characterization of Endo’s psychological journey as a Catholic to its current evolution. With all the questions, conflicts, and struggles that Endo had experienced as a Catholic, as a writer and as a Japanese person, Otsu is now confident that God is being expressed through his works. Through the transformations of Otsu, one can also see the history of Endo’s journey in his philosophy of religion. Otsu is a very familiar figure in Endo’s fiction; he is someone who is caught between the Western monotheistic belief system of God and the Eastern polytheistic culture. When Otsu goes to France to be trained as a Catholic priest, for the first time he encounters a series of uncertainties that prevent him from achieving his goal. Otsu tells Mitsuko of his growing doubts about European Christianity when he meets her during his seminary days: ‘ I ’ve been here three years. For three years I ’ve lived here, and I’ve tired of the way people here think. The ways of thinking that they’ve kneaded with their own hands and fashioned to meet the workings of their hearts ... they’re ponderous to an Asian like me. I can’t blend in with them. And so ... every day is hell for me. When I try to tell some of my French classmates or teachers how I feel, they admonish me and say that the truth knows no distinction between Europe and Asia. They say it’s all because of my neurosis or my complex or whatever.’ ... 70 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ‘ I can’t make the clear distinction that these people make between good and evil. 1 think that evil lurks within good, and that good things can lie hidden within evil as well. That’s the very reason God can wield his magic. He made use of even my sins and turned me towards salvation.’ (Deep River 65) A t this stage, Otsu’s main problem is the conflict between European culture, which has become the dominant source for Christianity5 6 , and his Japanese heritage. Particularly, he has trouble accepting dichotomous and theoretical ways of looking at religion. Otsu is aware that the church considers him heretical and that he could be purged if he does not change the way he thinks about God. Yet, he tells Mitsuko that he cannot change his feelings, and that he wants to think about ‘a form of Christianity that suits the Japanese mind.’ When Mitsuko next hears from Otsu, he is in Ardeche in Southern France. His ordination ceremony has been delayed because he is considered unready to become a Catholic priest. In his letter to Mitsuko, he explains that he believes that God is not an entity separate from human beings but, instead, lives inside everyone. Doubtlessly, the teachers criticize him, but he cannot really change his beliefs that are shaping his philosophy: This is partly because I ’m not smart enough and haven’t studied enough to be able to understand their magnificent powers of organization, but even more than that, it’s because my Japanese sensitivities have made me feel out of harmony with European Christianity. In the final analysis, the faith of the Europeans is conscious and rational, and these people reject anything that cannot slice into categories with their rationality and their conscious minds.... A t the seminary they were most critical of what they saw as a pantheistic sentiment lurking in my unconscious mind. As a Japanese, I 56 Although Christianity originated from the Middle Eastern regions, the Japanese often associate the Christian culture with Europe, because it was indeed developed in Europe and the Christianity came to Japan is from Europe, not directly from the Middle East. 71 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. can’t bear those who ignore the great life force that exists in Nature. However lucid and logical it may be, in European Christianity there is a rank ordering of all living things. They’ll never be able to understand the import of a verse like Basho’s haiku: when I look closely beneath the hedge, mother’s- heart flowers have blossomed Sometimes, of course, they talk as if they regarded the life force that causes the mother’s- heart flowers to bloom as the same force that grants life to human beings, but in no way do they consider them to be identical. ... ‘Then what is God to you?’ three of my superiors questioned me at the novitiate, and I was thoughtless enough to answer: ‘I don’t think God is someone to be looked up to as a being separated from man, the way you regard him. I think he is within man, and that he is a great life force that envelops man, envelops the trees, envelops the flowers and grass.’ (Deep River 117-118) Otsu is denounced as having too many polytheistic ideas of Asia, but as he mentions, he cannot ignore the power of Nature that he can clearly feel. Otsu was brought up in a Christian family and, thus, it was natural for him to become a Christian. Yet, his sensibilities, which were shaped in the country of Japan where temples and shrines are everywhere and people both respect and feel at home with nature, kami, and Buddha, cannot be ignored. Interestingly, these debates regarding the western vision versus Otsu’s own vision of Christianity are all recounted through Mitsuko’s memory, or in the letters addressed to her, to indicate that they are now history. When Otsu meets with Mitsuko during the present in India, he has overcome his doubts; he is confident and comfortable with the way he practices Catholicism, even if it is regarded as unorthodox by the mainstream churches. He declares: ‘ But, in the end, I’ve decided that my Onion doesn’t live only within European Christianity. He can be found in Hinduism, and in Buddhism as 72 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. well. This is no longer just an idea of my head, it’s a way of life I’ve chosen for myself.’ (Deep River 184) Here, “ Onion (tamanegi)” is a word for “ God." Mitsuko feels it is too sugary and even pretentious to use words such as “ God (kami)” or “ Love (ai),” and Otsu seems to think labels do not matter. One's higher power can be called “ God” or “ Buddha” or “ Onion” or anything at all. What is important is to recognize this great power, which is common to all religions, regardless of different names. This is homogeneous to the idea of religious pluralism. As Hick argues, people can have faith in different deities or entities because, in essence, the motivation is the same. Perhaps, one of the reasons that the word “ Onion” is used instead of “ God” is to indicate the universal nature of this being/ entity that is seen through the works of human beings. Another interesting point here is that Otsu says “ I trust my Onion. It’s more than just faith5 7 ” (66). It is “ trust” and not “ religion” that he has for God. The choice of the word “ trust” (shinrai, f a l l) over “ religion” (shinko, filffil) is worth exploring. Shinrai consists of the characters of ‘to believe (‘fit)’ and ‘to rely on/depend on ($1)’, while the word shinko consists of the characters of ‘to believe ( f t ) ’ and ‘to respect or to look upon ($ !)’. Thus, shinrai means to believe and rely on (shinjite tayoru koto fW C <h) while shinko means to believe and 5 7 Literally what Otsu says here is “ I trust my Onion. It’s not faith/religion.” Soreni boku wa tananegi o shinrai shiteimasu. Shinko ja naindesu. l U l i l f a c f £1111. 1 L / T U J ' f o 1 (Fukai kawa 991 73 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. respect (shinjite aogu koto fH < C. <t). Both terms include the character of ‘to believe’ , but the difference lies in whether one should totally rely on the works of God or simply should look upon God. Otsu rejects both the idea that God ranks above human beings and that people must respect Him. In addition, the word shinrai appears to connote a more passive attitude than the word shinko. One can totally be dependent on the power of God without his/her effort, but with shinko, one must actively work to show respect for God. This idea of relying totally on the power beyond oneself is reminiscent of the term tariki in Pure Land Buddhism, which means that since our power is limited, one should totally rely on the power of others, in this case the power of Buddha or Amida. Shinrai also appears to be an expression used to describe the feeling towards a mother who forgives and accepts her child. After all, a child was once part of the mother, so it seems natural that a child feels inclined to rely on the mother and seek comfort, support, and even forgiveness more so than from the father who has never known the experience of having a child inside him. This concept of a motherly God fits well with Otsu’s belief that God is not a separate entity from human beings. Otsu’s God is trusted and depended on like a mother in contrast to a fatherly God who garners dignity and respect by commanding it in a manner more closely associated with the term shinko. Reflecting back on Silence in this light we see the idea of a motherly God already forming, as Eto correctly suggests. When Rodrigues first arrives in Japan, 74 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. he looks at God as glorious and respectful, but his view changes gradually. When he steps on the fumie, “ the ugly face of Christ, crowned with thorns and the thin, outstretched arms” (Silence 170) is etched into the copper plate, and Christ's countenance is “ worn down and hollow with the constant trampling” (Silence 171). Eto is right to point out that it is the image of a mother that Endo’s God represents, a mother who endures the pain of being stepped on, who forgives those who step on her, and still loves and feels the pain with the child. This image of a mother is shared with the Hindu goddess Chamunda in Deep River. Chamunda suffers pain and hunger but still gives m ilk to the children. In fact, in Deep River, the image of a motherly God becomes much more prominent and expressive. There is no obvious woman figure in Silence, although, as Eto points out, Rodrigues’ God ends up being the one with a motherly capacity and image. In contrast, female figures become more prevalent in Deep River. Mitsuko occupies the central position amongst the five major characters. Not only does Mitsuko appear in the majority of the narrative, but she is also the only one who is directly connected to the other four major characters. Otsu is, of course, directly connected to Mitsuko as he was her classmate and he is part of the reason that Mitsuko travels to India. Isobe and Mitsuko are connected through Isobe’s deceased wife; Mitsuko took care of her until her death and she understands the reason why Isobe is traveling to India. Mitsuko also takes care of Kiguchi when he suffers from illness in India. To look after Kiguchi, Mitsuko is left in the hotel with Numada who wants to stay in town to go to the sanctuary. Since the two of them are left in the hotel, 75 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. when Kiguchi gets better, Mitsuko takes an excursion with Numada who helps Mitsuko find Otsu’s whereabouts. Mitsuko is the key element that connects all the others. More than that, however, Mitsuko presents a symbolic female figure, which is also identifiable with the Ganges and the Hindu goddesses. Like the River Ganges, she takes care of those who are ill or in need, but, as she repeatedly shows, she can be cruel and even base at times. She is a mixture of vice and virtue, like the Hindu goddesses. Also, Otsu still confides and writes Mitsuko despite his experience of having been dumped and humiliated by her, because she still listens to him; she becomes a confidante of Otsu. She is a thread that connects everything in the story, like the Ganges is a connecting point for everything. In fact, in the last chapter, Mitsuko bathes in the Ganges and becomes part of it. What I can believe in now is the sight o f all these people, each carrying his or her own individual burdens, praying at this deep river. At some point, the words of Mitsuko muttered to herself were transmuted into the words of prayers. / believe that the river embraces these people and carries them away. A river o f humanity. The sorrows o f this deep river o f humanity. And I am part o f it. 5 8 (Deep River 211) Even though Mitsuko claims to be an atheist, she offers prayers for humanity as she merges into the river, and she becomes a goddess herself at this point. Mitsuko, although a central female image, is not the only one; Deep River is full of female images. The Ganges definitely presents a female and motherly image because it embraces everything and flows into the ocean, the mother of the earth. 58 Italics are in the original. 76 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Hindu goddesses also symbolize the mixed natures of females, of good and evil, beauty and ugliness, or suffering and offering. The reason that Endo uses Mitsuko as well as the other female images is doubtlessly because Endo’s God is someone whom one relies on, like a mother, and not a fatherly, grave God whom one can only look upon. The way in which the image of God is depicted in Silence and the way in which it is depicted in Deep River reveal a striking difference. Although the idea of a motherly God had some traces in Silence, it becomes markedly evident in Deep River that the religion Endo believes in has a quality of motherliness. Endo's religious philosophy evolved to a state similar to the symbolism of the River Ganges in Deep River, where birth and death coexist, and his philosophy transformed to imagine God as a motherly God who receives and forgives all her children, rather than a fatherly God who scolds and judges them. Endo’s God has never been a separate entity from human beings. Instead, it is within and around everyone. Ironically, Endo, a Catholic, by the end of his life has established a philosophy of religion that harkens to his ethnic origins of Shintoism and Buddhism. His God is comparable to the Bodhisattva or the kan’non figure in Buddhism who forgives and accepts any human beings. It is also much like Mother Nature in Shintoism that includes mountains, the sea, rivers, flowers, and everything, which Endo happens to call God. 77 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 4 CONCLUDING REMARKS In this paper, I have tried to show the way in which Endo came to resolve his philosophical dilemma of being a writer and a Catholic while still retaining his Japanese heritage. With the limitation of time and resources, however, my research could not cover a full range of critical evaluations on Endo’s works in the contemporary Japanese literary scholarship, as well as his other writing voice under a different pen name,5 9 .which is comical and more oriented to popular literature. It is my hope to expand this project in the future, and conduct a much more thorough examination of particularly Japanese resources, and a larger array of Endo’s works. In both his critical essays and two representative novels that have been examined here, Endo proved to be not only a first-rate writer but a thinker who engaged with the important issues of life, death, and God. Despite his strong belief in God, or rather because of it, he was most interested in the exploration of human beings and the human mind. In fact, his God seems to work as a vehicle for helping people to understand more about themselves. In his later essays, Endo constantly talks about the importance of reaching out beyond the boundaries of any specific religion. This attitude is clearly shared by 59 This pen name is korian (SDtHl^i), which means the residence of foxes and raccoon dogs. According to a good friend of Endo, Miura Shumon, Endo came to like this pen name and he started to use it often from the early 1960s when he began to write humorous stories and essays. Miura, Shumon. “Unkokusaikoriansanjin no oitachi” Gunzo Nihon no sakka 22 Endo Shusaku. Tokyo: Shoogakkan, 1991. 106-114. 78 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. other scholars such as John Hick and Joseph Campbell, as they both insist that a religion is only a form particular to a given culture. Consequently, each stresses that it is important to respect and appreciate the differences of religion while acknowledging that there is also one universal truth behind all of them. Campbell imparts his philosophy through examination of different myths in the world, Hick talks about it from the viewpoint of a theologist, and Endo discusses it as a writer. Endo’s unique perspective as a Japanese writer and a Catholic appears to have provided him with the means to explore and delve into the discrepancies and clashes that different cultures and religions create. But, what comes out from his life-long investigation and questioning is not the superiority of one culture or religion over the other, but the fact that they are all connected in essence. In Deep River, this connection is made through the metaphor of the River Ganges, which embraces and accepts all beings and where life and death coexist. Deep River ends with a sentence indicating that Otsu is in critical condition, and that he may die at any moment. There is no doubt that Otsu's perilous state signifies the sad reality of the world where people still fight and kill one another. At the same time, however, this situation may also provide an opportunity for Mitsuko, as well as for the reader, to have Otsu reborn in their minds. Just as Mitsuko taught Isobe that his wife lives on within him, she may now discover she is a means of rebirth for Otsu. In the same way, perhaps Endo is reborn each time a reader discovers his work. Whether readers agree or disagree with what they find in his stories, Endo 79 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. affects their lives by compelling them to examine their own beliefs and understand others may believe differently. Perhaps this is a fitting epitaph for an individual who dedicated his life to examining his own beliefs and ultimately concluded a person continues to live on after their physical death through the hearts and minds of others. 80 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIBLIOGRAPHY Barthes, Roland. “The Death of the Author.” Image. Music Text. Trans. Stephen Heath. New York: H ill and Wang, 1977. 144-148. Campbell, Joseph. “ Masks of Eternity.” Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with B ill Moyers: Disc 2. Mystic Fire Video. 1999. Campbell, Joseph. ‘The Message of Myth.” Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with B ill Moyers: Disc 1. Mystic Fire Video. 1999. Endo, Shusaku. “ Bungaku to Kirisuto kyo + U ^ h $ 0 .” Shukvo to bungaku Tokyo: Nanbokusha, 1963. 9-19. — . Chinmoku Tokyo: Shinchoosha, 1966. — . Deep River. Trans. Van C. Gessel. New York: New Direction Books, 1994. — . Fukai kawa Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993. — . “ Fukai kawa” sosaku nikki ( \;n jj 0 1£). Tokyo: Kodansha, 2000. — . “ Geijyutsu no kijun (U llrO S ^ P ).” Shukvo to bungaku Tokyo: Nanbokusha, 1963. 138-142. — . “ Jinsei o tsutsumu b is h o (A £ £ Rakudaibozu no rirekisho Tokyo: Bunshun bunko, 1993. 122-125 — . “ Kamigami to kami to t . # £ ) . ” Kaze no nikusei (jH 0 ^ 1 |a ). Tokyo: Yamato Shuppan, 1986. 166-172. — . “ Katorikku sakka no mondai ( j l h * J y ^ ^ l ^ 0 ( n l l l ) . ” Shukvo to bungaku Tokyo: Nanbokusha, 1963. 71-136. — . “ Kirisutokyo to watashi no kuichigai ( + U X Kokoro no nokutan Tokyo: Bunshun bunko, 1989. 114-117. —. “ Kokoro ni hisomu genkei (/C,'{C£A^rtj'7E§y).” Watashi no aishita shosetsu Tokyo: Shincho bunko, 1985. 82-96. 81 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. — . “ Shukyo to bungaku Shukvo to bungaku Tokyo: Nanbokusha, 1963. 153-168. — . “ Shukyo no conpon ni arumono ^><7)).” Fukai Kawa: Somonauk Nikki ( rj^ (,\jn jj 0 IS). Tokyo: Kodansha, 2000. 135- 154. —. Silence. Trans. W illiam Johnson. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1980. — . “ Watashi no bungaku -jibun no bai £ 3 ) • ” Kaze no nikusei (1H(PE£1p°). Tokyo: Yamato Shuppan, 1986. 50-58. — . “ X no kozo 2 (X (7 )^ ja : ^ ( D —).” Kokoro no nokutan Tokyo: Bunshun bunko, 1989. 51-54. — . “ X no kozo 3 is : f O E l . ” Kokoro no nokutan (/C>(D?&$S[lin. Tokyo: Bunshun bunko, 1989. 55-58. — . “ X no kozo 4 (XiTJlfii!! : Kokoro no nokutan Tokyo: Bunshun bunko, 1989. 59-61. Endo, Shusaku and Gessel, Van C., eds. “ Endo Shusaku” to Shusaku Endo ( rjH U JjllfE j < h Shusaku Endo). Tokyo: Syujunsha, 1994. Endo, Shusaku and Miyoshi, Yukio. “ Taidan: Bungaku-jakusha no ronri ii^ ( D im S ) .” Gunzo Nihon no sakka 22 Endo Shusaku 2 : ilM J g fE ). Tokyo: Shogakkan, 1991. 236-257. Eto, Jun. “ Seijuku to soshitsu Endo Shusaku sakuhinron svu f^ p n lm ^ ), Ed. Toru Ishiuchi. Tokyo: Kuresu shuppan, 2002.79-108. Gessel, Van C. The String of Life: Four Contemporary Japanese Novelists. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989. Hick, John. Problems of Religious Pluralism. London: Mcmilan, 1985. lenaga, Saburo. The Pacific War. 1931-1945. Trans. Frank Baldwin. New York: Random House, 1978. 82 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Ishiuchi. Toru. ed. Endo Shusaku sakuhinron svu Yfm m M Tokyo: Kuresu shuppan, 2002. Lusthaus, Dan. Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogacara Buddshim and the Ch’eng Wei-shih lun. London: RoutledgeCuzon, 2002. Miura, Shumon. “ Unkokusaikoriansanjin no oitachi (S£D§f3JfiSlij ti'tp T Gunzo Nihon no sakka 22 Endo Shusaku B I f c 2 2 jliiM lfE ) . Tokyo: Shogakkan, 1991. 106-114. Updike, John. “ Fumie to soni no kuni V— Trans. Takao Tomiyama. Gunzo Nihon no sakka 22 Endo Shusaku B 2 2 : jS lIJ jll'fc ). Tokyo: Shogakkan, 1991. 16-25. Williams, Mark B. Endo Shusaku: A literature of Reconciliation. London: Routledge, 1999. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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Megumi, Maeri
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Religion and literary practice in the essays and fiction of Endo Shusaku
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East Asian Languages and Cultures
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