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Suggestion in haïku through the work of Svetlana Marisova
The dictionary defines suggestion as an act of advising, inspiring, evoking, thinking of something without formulating it. It is therefore about causing a person to think something without expressing it, or, in the words of Victor Hugo, "making in the minds of others a small incision where you put an idea of yourself". In the field of haiku, this process is considered by most authors as one of the most important elements of haiku. Thus, in the presentation of the book Haiku, an anthology of short Japanese poem we read : "The haïku poetic form is the shortest in the world. As an art of ellipse and suggestion, as a poem of the instant revealed, it seeks to awaken in us an awareness of life as a miracle." With the ellipse, it is one of the most fundamental aspects of haiku . For some authors, there's even no good haiku without suggestion. For instance, Dominique Chipot considers it as cement without which haïku "disintegrate into the depths of thought." Dominique Chipot raises the question of suggestion in an interview given to the Journal des Grandes Ecoles, in France. "Haiku is distinguished by its evocative power and by suggestion. It does not express a thought or a direct sense, it seeks the imaginary world of the reader. It is characterized by a withdrawal of the author who does not try to get on stage in his work. Haiku is like an inverted funnel, the share of small everyday things that will lead the reader to a wide range of feelings and senses. "Haiku is the art of transcending the mundane (...) We tend to pay attention not only to external rules but what really defines the haiku is its internal rules, secret rules. Haiku must not say everything, the ellipsis must invite the reader to unfold the world that the author was careful to withdraw. The key message of the haiku is therefore not necessarily expressed. This is a poem where silence is as important as words. In this, the haiku is a typical embodiment of Japanese culture in which exchanges are implicit and the silence of great value. (...) The haiku must first seek to suggest the direction and keep some mystery. The perfect haïku is the one who confront the ephemeral to the eternal, the place where opposites are going to connect. " Is suggestion the soul of haiku? Can we concieve a haiku without it? Is it necessary? And what processes can give it full force? To this last question, a brief analysis of the writing of the talented New Zealand haijin, Svetlana Marisova give some answers. The difficulty - and the beauty - of haiku, is its ability to say much in few words. The art of haiku is for the author to search for processes and ways that will allow him to purify, to prune, to simplify the haïku by eliminating repetitions, redundancies, clumsinesses, and keeping only what's essential. This is to help him not to say everything. The haijin beginners often tend to fall into this first mistake by succumbing to the temptation to say everything and by piling up words and images in 17 syllables. With practice, the haiku poets will learn to get rid of the superfluous and with a variety of processes (removal of determinants and repetitions, use of the ellipse, precise choice of words ...) but also by using suggestion. But does that mean that suggestion is a must? Some have insisted that the haiku should not contain any hidden meaning or double meaning. They quote a remark made by Shiki about Bashô's old mare, "The meaning of this verse is exactly what it expresses, it has no other meaning, no special meaning "or they repeat Bashô himself who defined haiku as "just what happens in such a place, at a particular time. "
There are some haiku that don’t seem to suggest anything, or at least not deliberately, but tend instead to show things as they are, by favoring the obvious, the simple, the pure description and to leave very little possibility of interpretation to the reader. These haiku are not necessarily of lesser value. Authors choose to go straight to the heart and senses of the reader rather than to his intellect. The ability of deduction, imagination, are not particularly called upon. This does not mean that the readers can not set in a particular haiku a part of their own imagination or that they can't visualize things that are not there, but simply that the author chose to depict the scene as it is, that there are no hidden messages, symbols or ideas cleverly encrypted in it. The strength of these haiku is in their simplicity, in their truth without artifice, in their obviousness.
Double-flowered cherry - We will not venture to establish any relationships between the qualitative superiority of one another, each type of haïku style housing real gems. These haiku are similar to Western contemporary poetry and are conspicuous by their evocative power. However, this approach can lead to the creation of abstruse, hermetic haikus, unable to produce any emotion. The haijin must also be wary of this pitfall, by taking care not to make his poems too inaccessible. André Duhaime, when talking about the main "rules" of haiku, gives this advice "Never use obscure allusions : the real haiku is intuitive, it is not intellectual or abstract." Anyway, whatever the degree of complexity or accessibility of their haiku, most authors resort to suggestion. For this, they rely on the collective memory and common cultural references of the readers to the multiple meanings of the words they use and to their connotations, but especially to the process of juxtaposition. Another method consists in placing historical, artistic or cultural references in his haïku, to pick from a collective cultural heritage. This could be a part of a song, a saying, a proverb or a famous speech, a reference to a historical character or personality, in a word, any element of a given culture. Among the authors of contemporary haiku, it is one that is characterized precisely by its use of suggestion and juxtaposition and deserves special attention. Svetlana Marisova is a haijin of Russian origins who emigrated very young to New Zealand. She runs as a webmaster and a publisher the site Simply Haiku with Robert D. Wilson, Sasa Vazic and Ted van Zutphen. She has also published a number of haiku of a rare strength and beauty. Here's how Robert D. Wilson, her mentor, presents her work, from the following haiku : dérivant - / le fardeau de mon ombre / sur une éphémère floating downstream - «Marisova’s short poem is an activity (process)-biased haiku, in line with Basho’s teachings. It’s not object-biased, or subjective. Marisova makes good use of yugen, hinting at and suggesting, versus "telling all." Likewise, the poet uses ma (dreaming room). These two aesthetic styles play an important role in bringing to surface the unsaid. It is the un-said’s dance with the said combined with a haiku to make room for multiple interpretations. Marisova makes excellent use of the Japanese styles (aesthetic tools) that transforms haiku into a medium that says much with little, with its ability to suggest, hint at, coupled with a proper understanding of kigo.» Wrote the artist (1617-1691) Tosa Mituoki in regards to painting, which applies to haiku as well: swan song ... chant du cygne ... / l'élan aux membres relâchés / des plumes sombres For Robert D Wilson, this use of the juxtaposition by Svetlana Marisova is creative because it allows readers to interpret a mystery. In this particular haiku, for example, what justifies this «rush» ? Is this a white swan attacked by a black-feathered predator? Is the swan a rare black swan, and if so, what is the cause of her rush? And why this «swan song»? Will it die? If so, why is it that its members are released? Etc.. Here a single interpretation is impossible. Without necessarily any hidden message (only knowledge of the life of the author and her work could help to decrypt), there is indeed a mystery, and this is made possible by the juxtaposition of elements that complete or oppose one another, by an excellent control of what Wilson calls "the aesthetic tools." autumn rain - pluie d'automne - / la couleur des chants d'oiseaux / maculée morphine ... / une fois encore mes rêves / submergés plongée aux perles ... / les haïku et les tumeurs / des profondeurs
dans le vent / ce qui aurait peu être ... / lune sans sommeil l'univers / soudain personnel ... / nouveau-né Translation amputates here twice the original haiku since it reveals my own interpretation of the poems and it is - by the very fact that it is a translation - unfaithful (a fortiori from the English language which can be so concise and so convenient). Nevertheless, we get an idea of Marisova's specific style, which proceeds by juxtaposition of images, hints, suggestion and conciseness. This is probably what I like the most in her writing, this permanent mystery, those blurred lines, this suffering and this beauty, these words that talk about the pain, the ephemeral, the wonder and the emergency. twilight - crépuscule -
la couleur
cette goutte d'eau This last one is particularly moving. Svetlana Marisova is indeed about to have a surgery operation in Russia, due to a brain tumor. Her recent poems are marked by great sadness, a deep attachment to life, an emergency, an unquenchable thirst for images and for love. However, even a reader who does not know the situation of the author can feel the sadness and the courage in this poem. He will vaguely feel that the author does not just describe the image of a drop of water clinging to a leaf. He will be understand that the haïku is talking about fight, courage, strength and he will be affected in the deepest part of himself by this apparently trivial image. juicy apple une pomme juteuse
prenant congé
matin froid … dancing alone dansant seule winter chill ... froid e l'hiver ...
graine endormie
ciel hivernal ...
ces âges sombres ... I conclude with my interpretation of this last haiku. One could imagine those plovers as some creatures of the night which came, like vultures, to take advantage of this moment of rest and of this weakness. I have felt something else : in this dark period in which the author is about to face the disease, her friends gather around her to say goodbye and wish her good luck. Then comes the dawn, the time of departure and of deep sadness. I see there a moving meeting, a last farewell. In a dark and difficult moment, the birds come close to each other and unite to resist the approaching threat. Yet ,the very last word of the haiku is "dawn". No doubt that many readers will find a lot of hope in this same haiku. That's the magic of suggestion, which allows each one to make the poem his and to put part of himself in it. Rarely putting herself on stage (or when she does, very discreetly), Svetlana Marisova knows how to leave room for the readers, how to share with them. If her haiku are so full of energy and emotion, it's probably because they carry with them as much mystery and, at the same time, as much universality.
A translation by Vincent Hoarau of his article originally published in the October-December 2011 issue of Gong, journal of L'Association Francophone de Haiku. Reprinted with permission |
