Literature and Religion
A Dialogue between China and the West
- Arts & Literature
- World Religions
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2020
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Publisher's Description
How does one culture "read" another? This book is a series of conversations between a scholar from China and a scholar from the West, each reading texts from the other's culture. One of the key issues is the nature of religion and what we understand by that term in a world in which ancient religious and customs seem to be dying or under threat. Does literature and religion offer the possibility of mutual understanding--or merely illustrate our differences? These conversations between scholars are also between friends. And that, too, is important.
Endorsements (6)
“David Jasper’s fascinating dialogue with Ou Guang-an vividly materializes the dialogic space between literature and religion, East and West. It would be difficult to find one who has contributed more to stimulate the interdisciplinary studies of theology and literature.”
“This remarkably adventurous book has become possible because two longstanding friends learned to trust one another. Its readers will find themselves indebted to both the authors for their courtesy to one another and the expectations of care and insight they generate in those willing to embark on comparable studies!”
“Spiritual values connect religion and literature as manifestations of what is at the core of our humanity, even though the forms of manifestation and the emphases in different cultures may differ from one to the other. Through a series of dialogues and exchanges, David Jasper and Ou Guang-an explore those spiritual values in this fascinating book, Literature and Religion, and offer us much to learn, contemplate, and celebrate.”
“To read this fascinating book is to overhear a gracious, informed, and honest conversation between friends whose life experiences could scarcely be more different. But in that difference, and in the quality of that friendship and the willingness to seek out new understandings, there is profound revelation which we are privileged to share. Through the translation of literature in its widest sense, the cultures and religions of China and ‘the West’ are mutually illuminated.”
“The interdisciplinary encounter between literature and religion is given new form and vitality in this lively dialogue between two scholars from very different cultural contexts. Their conversation draws the reader in enabling them to explore unfamiliar territory and also rediscover a compelling strangeness within familiar literary texts. There are many treasures to be found here.”
“If there is ever a time for a new way of intercultural dialogue, it is now, as the world shrinks and divides in equal measures. Jasper and Ou model for us just such a way. The conversations here, going well beyond comparative studies, are the very ‘enactment of reciprocity,’ conducted in the spirit of unconditional hospitality, and yielding insights germane to not only China and the West, but all sides questioning our shared religious concerns.”
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