Empress' Old Clothes
MY RESPONSE: A poem maybe. Otherwise we have been given permission to write a sentence and call it a library. To say haiku/hokku is anything it wants to be is, clearly, utter nonsense. If a short story morphs into a novelette it is no longer a short story. It is a novelette. If a haiku becomes a sonnet then it is not a limerick either. THE REMAINS (click to enlarge)
Below is an example of how to maintain an illusionary reality -- simply censor everything which contradicts the illusion. This is a common human habit and probably in the big picture is nature's way of maintaining systemic stability. Of course these deluded deceits are tested. In the process life lives and learns and these challenges to spheres of influence serve to further the authentic truth of things, eventually for the good of all.Susumu Takiguchi is 'acting editor-in-chief' of World Haiku Review. In his Editors Choice, December 2011 a piece by Gabi Greve was featured. First there is a general point which I respond to:"Each haiku is different as each child is different. Let each haiku develop as it wants to develop itself without imposing preconceived or fixed rules, ideas, policies etc. This would often solve such questions as the lengths and patterns of each line, choice of words, kigo or not kigo, the order of lines and words. It is just like letting each child develop as it wants to develop instead of imposing parents’ will, decisions, or preconceived ways of child-rearing, especially wishful thinking, or their own unfulfilled wishes." - Susumu Takiguchi
Fair comment. Then I went on to critique Greve's piece which Takiguchi was impressed by. The following was edited out of my original post at Haiku Foundation Forums where Gabi Greve had exercised some self-promotion by posting this topic.
DELETED BY HAIKU FORUMS MODERATOR (see appendix below)
The triplet in question:
not much
and yet
my autumn
- Gabi Greve
This is an office ku (made up to simulate a poignant encounter with a decaying leaf) which was then illustrated by use of an appropriate symbolic image (decaying leaf). Does it stand without the picture? Certainly not. So, let us assume a haiga-in-progress. The text (supported by the image) looks like a haiku/hokku in Western form but subtextually radiates affectation and playing to a mirror's audience for polite applause. Compare this with Issa's use of the wistful romance evoked by "and yet":
Tsuyu no yo wa tsuyu no yo nagara sari nagara
The world of dew --
A world of dew it is indeed,
And yet, and yet . . .
(translated by Lewis Mackenzie)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobayashi_Issa
I believe Susumu to be showering kisses.
And yet...
jp
So, I leave this report as it stands and reader's will, no doubt, make their own minds up regarding the pros and cons. Interestingly, although Greve was riding on the wings of Issa, that excellent classical haijin was himself picking up on the "the world of dew" device from a much earlier usage in The Tale Of Genji:
In the haste we make to leave this world of dew
May there be no time between the first and last.
- Genji
A world of dew before the autumn winds,
Not only theirs, these fragile leaves of grass
- Empress
APPENDIX
1. Here we have a "shower of kisses" (the whole item -see link below- is worth a read):
Susumu
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thank you very much for this explanation.
gabi
(source has been deleted by Gabi Greve)
For the record: We did a Google Search for "one line Japanese haiku". The item Greve has now deleted came up. This is when I realised that there was a backstory to the absurd editorial by Susuma Takiguchi we have been discussing here. Another example of deceitful removal of source material to cover one's tracks. You see, "stalking" is something we have no time, nor inclination, to do. In any case, Gabi Greve is not that important (other than in her own mind) to waste time "stalking" (researching). The phrase for her word usage is, clearly, "smear tactic". This being her typical modus operandi when attempting to extend her spurious influence.
Susumu Takiguchi bio
Gabi Greve interview
2. Explanation for deleted section:
John, I saw the comments you posted on the Sumusu thread, and I am telling you now that myself and the other moderators will not permit you to open up old wounds on our forum.
You and Gabi have a well documented history, and I found your comments about her poem to be inflammatory and without merit. I have deleted that portion of your post and will in the future delete anything which I and the other moderators feel is out of order.
If you don't like this then I suggest you post elsewhere.
John McManus
NOTE: The "old wounds" (not really) references this.
" Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary.
It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body
and calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."
- Winston Churchill
jp 20-07-12
This index is a living document and as such will develop - so, be sure to return regularly to this page, if you like. Not just to note any changes, but also to review the material in the light of your own understanding.