Approaching Silence

Mark W. Dennis is Associate Professor of East Asian Religions at Texas Christian University, USA.Darren J. N. Middleton is Professor of Literature and Theology at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He is the author of three books, including Theology after Reading: Christian Imagination and the Power of Fiction (2008), as well as four edited volumes on religion, literature and film.

Approaching Silence is an anthology of essays (and one play) edited by Darren J. N. Middleton and Mark W. Dennis that explores the possible interpretations of the novel; it serves as a fitting prelude to the long-awaited Scorsese film of Silence that is due for release in the US in November.

• Acknowledgments Introduction: Silence in the World Mark W. Dennis (Texas Christian University, USA) and Darren J. N. Middleton (Texas Christian University, USA)Part One: Background and Reception 1. Before Silence: Stumbling Along with Rodrigues and KichijiroKevin M. Doak (Georgetown University, USA)2. Silence on Opposite Shores: Critical Reactions to the Novel in Japan and the WestVan C. Gessel (Brigham Young University, USA)3. The ‘Formality’ of the fumie?: A Re-consideration of the Role of the fumie in SilenceMark Williams (University of Leeds, UK)4. Endo and Greene’s Literary TheologyDarren J. N. Middleton (Texas Christian University, USA)5. Charting Endo’s Catholic Literary AestheticMark Bosco, S.J. (Loyola University, Chicago, USA)6. Forbidden Ships to Chartered Tours: Endo, Apostasy, and GlobalizationChristopher B. Wachal (Marquette University, Milwaukee, USA)Part Two: Christianity and Buddhism7. The Catholic Shift East: The Case of JapanChristal Whelan (Independent Scholar and Filmmaker)8. Agape Unbound in Silence and Deep RiverElizabeth Cameron Galbraith (St. Olaf College, USA)9. Discerning the Marshland of This World: Silence from a Japanese Buddhist PerspectiveDennis Hirota (Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan) 10. A Buddhist Reading of the Blue Eyes of Jesus in SilenceMark W. Dennis (Texas Christian University, USA)Part Three: Endo’s Theology11. Literature as Dohansha in SilenceJeff Keuss (Seattle Pacific University, USA)12. Is Abjection a Virtue?: Silence and the Trauma of ApostasyDennis Washburn (Dartmouth College, USA) 13. 'And Like the Sea God was Silent’: Multivalent Water Imagery in Silence” Frances McCormack (National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland)14. Laughter Out of Place: Risibility as Resistance and Hidden Transcript in SilenceJacqueline Bussie (Concordia College, USA)Part Four: Teaching Silence15. Silence in the ClassroomJohn Kaltner (Rhodes College, USA)Part Five: Later Adaptations16. Silence, a play Steven Dietz 17. Silence, a film Martin ScorseseContributorsFor Further ReadingIndex