| NOTA |
(★)(Translated by Francis Mathy)(The events described in this exciting and provocative three-act play, a companion piece to Endo´s highly acclaimed novel ´Silence´, take place in 1633, nearly a hundred years after Christianity was introduced into Japan. By this time, Japanese Christians were being cruelly persecuted by the government ; every Christian searched out was made to apostatize or suffer a slow, agonizing death.／ The central character of ´The Golden Country´ is Father Christopher Ferreira, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary. Given shelter by a Christian farming community, everyone looks to him for help, including one of his chief persecutors. When, after cruel torture, Father Ferreira apostatizes to the disbelief of his Japanese converts, the play reaches a climax that is later capped only by the courage, nobility and love of the martyrs. Father Francis Mathy´s detailed Introduction to this tightly constructed drama, which poses basic questions about the meaning of faith, love and fate, provides valuable historical background.／ ◆Shusaku Endo[1923-1996] was the most popular of the great twentieth century Japanese writers in Japan. Known for his rough humor and the unwavering moral convictions he derived from his Catholic faith, he focused his writing on the moral issues facing each individual within society as well as those facing society as a whole. He graduated from Keio University with a degree in French literature and subsequently spent several years in postgraduate study in Lyons. Among the literary prizes he was awarded are the Akutagawa, the Mainichi Cultural, the Shincho, and the Tanizaki prizes.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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