Hello and welcome to Episode 13. I’m Patricia and I’m your host for the Haiku Chronicle Podcast.
If you listened to last week’s podcast you would have heard a wonderful Haiku from Giddy Nielsen Sweep, who raised the question of seasonal words, or Kigo, in English language Haiku. She got me thinking, are they necessary or relevant?
As you probably know, haiku was developed in a rural time, hence its connection to nature, and the importance of seasons. Therefore, it makes sense that in traditional Japanese haiku it would have been normal to put at least one word or phrase in your haiku to give a clue as to what time of year it was being written.
Traditionally, “Kigo acts as a general evocation of the nature of human activities at” a “time of year. For example on its own the word moon evokes an autumnal scene. If you intend the moon to indicate another season you should add spring moon or summer moon.” (1)
Using these prescribed seasonal words, the Saijaiki, the writer could convey rather more than you would expect in short phrases or a mere word.
According to Higginson (2) “many Japanese haiku poets of the early 20th century grew weary of the requirement for Kigo. Some simply did not bother to learn which plants, animals and household objects belonged to which seasons. The thinking was that the season wordlists were artificial even in those things which are very specific in time.” For example cherry trees blossom during a period of a few weeks and seasons change as we move north to south, east to west.
As the evolution of the haiku continued through the 20th century, and it crossed national and cultural borders, it was argued by people who didn’t use the seasonal word that most life took place in cities or indoors and now digitally, of course, nature was becoming less important in our lives and so seasonal words were becoming irrelevant.
As I said, the Japanese have a prescribed list of seasonal words. They are culturally relevant but do they make the transition to English language haiku? I would suggest not. The probability is that most people outside Japan do not understand the coded references, nuances and emotions that the traditional Japanese haiku seasonal word evoke.
This does not mean we can’t use seasonal references within English language haiku. Do we develop our own prescribed lists or do we leave it to our imagination, to our free choice, to come up with a meaningful seasonal reference?
The advantage of a prescribed list, is that we can choose a reference which will have a clear meaning. However, that might take some doing given the range of English speaking cultures you would have to satisfy.
The disadvantage, apart from the amount of time and argument it would take to agree one, is that that clear meaning may only be understood by fellow aficionados and not travel well into the larger community.
Or do we freestyle? Do we use words which are culturally relevant in the culture we live in. The problem with this idea is, as I have alluded to, that the English speaking world is more diverse than the Japanese, if we freestyle we risk not being understood or eliciting the emotional response of a good Haiku. I admit that sometimes, as a European, have trouble understanding the references in American haiku even though I am a native English speaker.
To illustrate
no children
on the early bus
roadworks
Here in Zürich when the weather warms up the roadworks start. So I have free-styled here using the word roadworks as my seasonal word. If you live where I do you may get the connection, roadworks= summer= school holidays. A bit extreme, but I hope it illustrates where free styling could lead.
So where does that leave my thinking with regard to seasonal words. Well, I agree with David Cobb when he says, “it should be possible to place the haiku in one of the seasons of the year.” (1) it is different with senryu, but haiku and senryu are two different things. I will come to this in another Podcast.
I am also inclined to agree with Jim Kacian when he wrote “I believe kigo will continue to matter in haiku in all cultures. They are the leavening which makes the dough of haiku rise.” (3)
Things have moved on. Have we become comfortable with the idea of a keyword being as acceptable as a replacement of a seasonal word.
More about that on another podcast. If you would like to contribute to the debate, please contact me via the website poetrypea.com
What have I learnt from my writing this week?
I am not good working to a prompt, it feels like an unauthentic way for me to write Haiku, I know others can do it successfully. I need to have had an experience first. I’d be interested to know how other people manage it.
What have I been writing this week? Well, you can see all of my raw efforts on the poetrypea website. I have been connecting with elements and sights of the public transport system here in Zürich. Is it a good topic for Haiku or Senryu?
the girl stares
through the tram window
an old man waves
I’m seeking to express the basic connection between people, in this case the old and the young. I think this crosses all cultures.
I asked for help with this one. I wasn’t feeling satisfied with it. But couldn’t see a way forward. First of all I was told “you have too many verbs” the blindingly obvious! Why had I not seen it? What a silly billy!
I asked for help from my lovely haiku group, “Sharing Haiku Knowledge” on facebook. I got a lot of advice from them.
Damian Darmachari suggested that I use an image of a girl with a phone: “a girl stares at her phone” which would widen the gap between the phrase and fragment of the Haiku which he rightly thought was too close, there was not enough space. He also felt on a personal level that that aroused more emotion.
the girl stares at her phone…
through the tram window
an old man waves
and Garry Wilson suggested the following,
tram window
girl gazes as
old man waves
These versions loose the pivot which is in the original and as great as they are, I would like to keep the pivot. It’s still a work in progress.
I also wrote this;
from his buggy
he waves to the passing train…
mittens
First I should explain the word buggy, just in case it doesn’t translate well, it’s a pushchair in which the child sits pretty upright and can see what’s going on around him or her.
So what’s the story behind this one? It’s personal. Last week I spent more than my usual amount of time using public transport here in Zürich. One afternoon, coming back from town I was waiting at the level crossing to let a tram past and standing with me was a mature gentleman with a toddler in a buggy. As the tram passed us by the child raised a mitten covered hand and waved to the driver, who waved back. All of us were smiling at this small gesture which connected the child and the driver. Now if this pleasure were not enough, it reminded me of my father. My father took early retirement when my first child was born, in order to spend as much time with him and the subsequent children as possible.
My first child was not a sleeper, not at night and not during the day, unless you were carrying him around or pushing him in his buggy. So Dad would arrive after lunch and wrap him up warmly, hat and mittens and a blanket in the winter, and take him out for a walk in the pushchair. We lived close to a bridge that went over the railway at the time and often my little boy would stay awake until he had waved at the train and often the train driver would blow the whistle at him, which he loved.
If I had had a good nights sleep I would go with them. So when I saw this little boy and what I presumed was his grandad enjoying a similar experience to my family it tugged at my heart.
Let’s go now to India to my guest Ramlawt Dinpuia
I haven’t been to India in about 30 years, from what I know of the country, it has changed enormously in that time. In those times, as my husband and I moved about from place to place we were constantly approached by beggars, so when I read Ramlawt’s Haiku I was taken back to that wonderful holiday we had enjoyed, seeing a country and a culture so different to the one we lived in.
What can I tell you about Ramlawt?
Well, he is doing a Masters in Physics and living in Aizawl, Mizoram, India. I’ve noticed that many of you who submit Haiku to The Haiku Chronicle have a link to scientific study, noticeably physics.
I was rereading the introduction to Haiku in English, the first hundred years, (4) which you will find in my recommended reading list. In it Billy Collins gives us an analogy between Haiku and Physics, he says:
“just as matter is composed of atoms, which gives off a great energy when accelerated to the point of collision, so time is made up of moments; and when a single moment is perfectly isolated, another kind of cosmic energy is released. I like to think of the haiku as a moment smashing device out of which arise powerful moments of dazzling awareness.”
Anyway, back to Ramlawt. What inspires Ramlawt to write? Nothing but what surrounds him, he says. He believes that haiku is the best way to express and explore what he’s seen and what happens around him. What he enjoys when reading Haiku is one that will clearly capture the exact moment of something that happened. A short and clear image is the most important thing in his opinion.
And so to his Haiku, I hope it resonates with you:
city market
the son of the beggar dances
in the winter wind
Thanks Ramlawt, I’m looking forward to featuring you again in the future.
That’s it for this week. I’ll be back next Monday with more Haiku. Keep writing and sending me your wonderful Haiku to be featured on the Podcast and on the poetrypea website.
In the meantime can I ask you a favour, to go and give the Haiku Chronicle facebook page a like. Thank you.
See you next week. Keep writing!
The Haiku Chronicle Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/poetrypea/
Bibliography
David Cobb The British Museum Haiku
William J Higginson The Haiku Handbook
http://www.gendaihaiku.com/kacian/beyondkigo.html
Haikuin English: the first hundred years. Edited by Jim Kacian, Philip Rowland and Allan Burns http://poetrypea.com/haiku-in-english-the-first-hundred-years/
Recommend reading:
http://www.graceguts.com/essays/up-with-season-words
