TY - GEN
T1 - Animal Substitution as a Reversed Sacrifice
T2 - An Intertextual Reading of Genesis 22 and the Animal Stories of Shūsaku Endō
AU - Coenradie, S.
N1 - The fascination of sacrifice
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - This article focuses on the animal substitute for human sacrifice. By comparing and contrasting the Abraham/Isaac story to the various stories of Endō concerning animal substitutes, I will argue the substitute is giving meaning to one’s suffering, acts as a catalyst for faith and can evoke gratitude. Substitution is a predominant theme in the literary work of the Japanese Christian author Shūsaku Endō (1923-1996). In this article I focus on his stories in which animals are metaphors for Jesus. Using the philosophy on giving and receiving as a theoretical frame, I will elaborate on the nature of the animal sacrifice in these stories. In the Gen. 22 story God Himself gives an animal to sacrifice, thereby saving the life of Abraham’s son. In the short stories of Shūsaku Endō presented in this article, the protagonists have the impression a substitute animal likewise saves their lives. But by whom? As I will argue, the laughter of the bird in Endō’s story indicates a need to respond to an unknown call. Finally, I will elaborate on a significant difference between Gen. 22 and the stories by Endō: the role of the female partner.Keywords: animal sacrifice, substitution, gratitude, Shūsaku Endō, van Velthoven, Derrida, Bussie, Auerbach, Coakley
AB - This article focuses on the animal substitute for human sacrifice. By comparing and contrasting the Abraham/Isaac story to the various stories of Endō concerning animal substitutes, I will argue the substitute is giving meaning to one’s suffering, acts as a catalyst for faith and can evoke gratitude. Substitution is a predominant theme in the literary work of the Japanese Christian author Shūsaku Endō (1923-1996). In this article I focus on his stories in which animals are metaphors for Jesus. Using the philosophy on giving and receiving as a theoretical frame, I will elaborate on the nature of the animal sacrifice in these stories. In the Gen. 22 story God Himself gives an animal to sacrifice, thereby saving the life of Abraham’s son. In the short stories of Shūsaku Endō presented in this article, the protagonists have the impression a substitute animal likewise saves their lives. But by whom? As I will argue, the laughter of the bird in Endō’s story indicates a need to respond to an unknown call. Finally, I will elaborate on a significant difference between Gen. 22 and the stories by Endō: the role of the female partner.Keywords: animal sacrifice, substitution, gratitude, Shūsaku Endō, van Velthoven, Derrida, Bussie, Auerbach, Coakley
M3 - Conference contribution
T3 - Studies in Theology and Religion
BT - Sacrifice in Modernity
PB - Brill
CY - Leiden
ER -