SF Surrealism?
TRANSCRIPT OF DISCUSSION BASED ON ENTRY DATED JUNE 11, 2012
(see June-1 geodesic_eye)
QUERENT A very nice example of a surrealistic haiga. Your rendering of the image is artful, helped along by, in the first instance, the composition of the photograph, and the unexpected juxtaposition of the images - the natural and the manufactured in harmony, but not quite! The human element adds humour and poignancy, an "as if" quality: "Oh look, honey, it's as if the sun is setting out there - just like in the movies!" Or perhaps, as if a UFO has been sighted. I also like the illusion of movement created by those racing clouds heading off in the opposite direction to that of the car. And yet, it is still a snapshot, one frame in the movie of life, frozen in time ...
I am wondering if L1 of the haiku could be rethought? The sci-fi or surrealistic quality of the image speaks for itself quite effectively (in my view). I am also wondering why you have chosen the past tense for "freeze"? There may be good reason, but in my first reading I substituted "freezes" - in the moment of experiencing, so's to speak.
I like this very much - not one to speed by easily. Excellent :)
For anyone interested in surrealism, Breton's 1927 "manifesto":
Dictionary: Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation.
Encyclopedia: Surrealism. Philosophy. Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of dream, in the disinterested play of thought. It tends to ruin once and for all other psychic mechanisms and to substitute itself for them in solving all the principal problems of life.
John Potts
"Zen minimalism is a dangerous thing. The reason for this is that a certain constipation of normal expression can beguile the unwary." - The Haiku Shaman
The effort you have put into this thoughtful response, Zen Anecdotes, is worthy of a thoughtful reply. Here it is in bullet form:
. L1 is the frame for the rest of the micropoem. Many readers may not 'get it' in the desired spin is the reason.
. I 'read' the couple as in silence, but your dialogue could be an option. (SF is not necessarily equatable with surrealism, the latter would figure in a fantasy setting more likely?)
. The past tense in L3 is considered to be a nicer wording. It also raises the swiftness of what we call 'a moment in the now'. For, once we know the moment the moment is history. The aboriginal people say we need songs and stories to exist. So, let this immediate passing of time not dismay the sensitive reader. ^_^ Our experience of life is a story -- deal with it.
. NOTE: This image suggests a 1960s SF paperback cover. That was the start of this modernist haiku in the classic style.
. "Surrealism is a potential disease in waiting. Not to be played with like a kitten. Like a ripe plum surrealist thought is on the verge of rotting, eternally." - The Haiku Psychologist
. I wish this haiga had higher production values in the sense of the original image being taken with a more powerful camera than the little Kodak which is my constant companion when out and about.
. Your input is worthwhile and is an example of how member's can put effort and courage into their appraisal of each other's offerings. Moreover, how people in general can put more effort by practising makato in their dealings with the miracle of existence which we all find ourselves embedded in, here on the ground -- for a moment or so.
MORE http://bit.ly/makato
QUERENT Hmmm, no I don't think SF and Surrealism can be equated. I do think there are several templates/maps or even a mandala, through which one can enter your haiga. Surrealism is not fantasy, and the image created, whatever it may be, is considered to be merely an artifact of the thought (in a philosophical sense) behind it. At the time of its flowering, Surrealism was an invitation to change one's eyeglasses, switch channels, and to see the relationship of objects one to another in unexpected ways. But it was the cognition behind it that had primacy. I don't even know if the concept of "fantasy" has any use any longer! How can we possible know what is real, and what is fantasy (or fiction), if everything is an illusion? When people don't understand another's world, they tend to describe them as being "irrational", or "fantasising", as though there is something "wrong" with that. All things are possible ... and you Sci-Fi approach works well.
John Potts
I agree, surrealist perception is not SF, nor really fantasy writing either; but, of the two, fantasy writing is more surreal if we have to choose. For example: Lord of the Rings actions in a weird literary dreamland. But, that would be an example of Fantasy writing, not Science Fantasy. Add a flying saucer though and... Whereas, Childhood's End (A C Clarke) inhabits our little blue world in the future.
Surrealist modes of fantasy are probably useful from a survival point of view (like Basho's 'white sound', where the double synaesthetic driven jolt -- sound backed by inner-vision -- can be seen as a useful wake up call capability in real time and real space to warn us more certainly of an impending possible danger).
The sea darkens.
The voices of the wild ducks
turn white.
Surrealism had its moment and is now simply one of a myriad tools for selling shiny objects we don't really need from the digital windows and graffiti walls of our global Neo-Babylon. ^_^ And making a certain genre of movies I rarely bother to watch.
Surrealist expression in dreams may be useful in both psychological analysis and the practice of magic. One thing's for sure, though, I'd be not wanting to live in such a queasy universe for longer than the tick of a flea's whisker (not to put too fine a point on it).
This could be simply a misunderstanding of terminology and its myriad philosophies. Science Fiction (the opposite of Science Fantasy) is typically regarded as realism projected into a possible future or alternate present. Hard-edged -- no dripping clocks (unless it's P K Dick pushing the envelop on acid; in which case he's seguing his genius genie into Science Fantasy).
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MORE: "Then we come to the poor bastard child of science fiction – science fantasy. Science fantasy is like hard or soft scifi but mixed with magical or supernatural elements, or that uses alternate or imaginary science and technology that is simply impossible given all known scientific laws, theories and constraints."
Is it Science Fiction or Science Fantasy? | Fantasy Magazine
People love to debate what is “real” science fiction. Is hard SF the only real SF? Where is the line between soft science fiction and science fantasy, and should both simply be called fantasy?
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