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Religions
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Religion in 20th- and 21st-Century Fictional Narratives
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Religion in 20th- and 21st-Century Fictional Narratives

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 1212

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Thomas Jerome Sienkewicz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Classics, Monmouth College, Monmouth, IL, USA
Interests: classical reception; pilgrimage; religion and literature

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Religions focuses on ways that modern (20th- and 21st-century) writers of fiction incorporate religion and religious themes into their narratives. Since there is no real scholarly agreement on what the term “religion” means, the word is here interpreted broadly, and submissions dealing with any religion or aspect of religion are welcome. Religion can be understood here not only as an organized religion, but also as a looser system of beliefs and practices, including sacred places, the supernatural, oracles and prophecies, or any type of spiritual or transcendent phenomena.

Papers dealing with fictional narratives about any of the world’s major religions, including, but not limited to, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, are welcome. So are papers focusing on witchcraft, wiccans, mysticism, or any other occult practices.

“Fictional narrative” is also broadly understood here, and submissions may deal with novels, short stories, narrative poems, etc. Whether a religious theme is the primary focus of the narrative or serves only as a backdrop for the story, the focus of the submission should be on illustrating how the religious theme functions in the narrative.

Some particularly popular examples of Christian religious fiction are C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles or his science fiction trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength), Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead series,  Shusako Endo’s Silence, Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, and Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood and ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’. Examples from other religious traditions include Rachel Kadish’s The Weight of Ink (Judaism), Leila Aboulela’s Minaret and Umm Zakiyyah’s Hearts We Lost (Islam), S.J. Sindu’s Blue Skinned Gods (Hinduism), and J.K. Rawling’s Harry Potter series (witchcraft). Religious themes can also be more allegorical, like the Christology in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or the secular humanism of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. This list is not intended to be restrictive, but rather is offered to illustrate some of the kinds of fictional narratives which could be the focus of submissions to this volume.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, or to the Assistant Editor Sandee Pan (sandee.pan@mdpi.com) of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Jerome Sienkewicz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • religion and literature
  • modern religious narrative
  • religion in fictional narrative

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 357 KB  
Article
The Grace to Go on Living: The Dialectics of Everyday Life and Christian Japanization in Endō Shūsaku’s Silence
by Seungjun Lee and Soojung Park
Religions 2025, 16(12), 1558; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16121558 - 10 Dec 2025
Viewed by 144
Abstract
This study reinterprets Father Rodrigues’s apostasy in Endō Shūsaku’s Silence not as a religious failure, but as a process of Christianity’s “Japanization,” analyzed within the context of postwar Japanese intellectual history. Where existing criticism often falls into the binary opposition between martyrdom and [...] Read more.
This study reinterprets Father Rodrigues’s apostasy in Endō Shūsaku’s Silence not as a religious failure, but as a process of Christianity’s “Japanization,” analyzed within the context of postwar Japanese intellectual history. Where existing criticism often falls into the binary opposition between martyrdom and betrayal, this study introduces the perspective of individual conviction versus organizational authority. First, Rodrigues’s act resonates with Yoshimoto Takaaki’s tenkō (ideological conversion) theory, specifically defined as the “third form of tenkō.” This form represents the choice to pursue the integrity of personal conviction over obedience to an organization. This links Rodrigues’s action to the spiritual continuity of the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians), arguing that the essence of his apostasy is a betrayal of the Church institution, not of faith itself. Furthermore, through the theme of the dialectic of everyday life, the study demonstrates that salvation is discovered not in the glorious death of martyrdom, but within the secular fabric of daily existence. Rodrigues’s paradoxical condition of being both weak and strong as Okada San’emon after the fumie is an extension of the Kakure Kirishitan’s survival, who maintained their faith amid secular labor. In conclusion, Endō’s literature serves as a testimony for the “cowards” and a plea for the grace to go on living. It illuminates the process through which individual faith transcends institutional authority and takes root in the indigenous Japanese way of life, thereby completing the vision of Christianity’s “Japanization.” Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion in 20th- and 21st-Century Fictional Narratives)
12 pages, 216 KB  
Article
Not Decline but Transformation: Three Layers of Religion in In the Beauty of the Lilies
by Yabo Li
Religions 2025, 16(11), 1365; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111365 - 29 Oct 2025
Viewed by 468
Abstract
John Updike’s In the Beauty of the Lilies has often been interpreted as a lament for the decline of institutional Christianity in twentieth-century America. Instead, in this essay, it is argued that the novel dramatizes the metamorphosis of the sacred across four generations [...] Read more.
John Updike’s In the Beauty of the Lilies has often been interpreted as a lament for the decline of institutional Christianity in twentieth-century America. Instead, in this essay, it is argued that the novel dramatizes the metamorphosis of the sacred across four generations of the Wilmot family. Based on Updike’s conviction that divine presence endures beyond the walls of the church and through literary and cultural analysis grounded in sociological theory, the narrative shows that what appears to be the retreat of institutional religion is in fact a return to its primal ground in private faith. From Clarence’s crisis of belief to Teddy’s communal–private devotion, Essie’s narcissistic yet spiritualized stardom, and Clark’s restless searching, the novel traces diverse expressions of private religion in modern life. Film, above all, emerges as the communicative form that replaces the authority once vested in institutional churches, becoming the most pervasive medium through which transcendence is imagined and experienced. Far from depicting religion’s disappearance, Updike presents its reconfiguration into subtler and more pervasive forms of grace. In doing so, In the Beauty of the Lilies becomes a literary meditation on how religious meaning persists, adapts, and finds new representatives in a modern, media-saturated world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion in 20th- and 21st-Century Fictional Narratives)
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