THE WOMEN'S HANDWRITING IN THE BULGARIAN HAIKU

 

Dimitar Anakiev

THE WOMEN'S HANDWRITING IN THE BULGARIAN HAIKU

Women's haiku in the West, as in Bulgaria, face two main problems. The first is that haiku in the West is understood almost exclusively as a pastoral poem (a "verse about nature"), and the second is cultural differences. In fact, the first problem stems in part from the second. Because if a poetic form does not have a home ground under its feet, then it is normal to approach it conceptually, although this is not in accordance with the rules of writing poetry and cultural exchange, as understood by the International P.E.N. ("All forms are universal, all cultures are equal") 

Cultural differences are not as insignificant as they seem at first glance. In Japanese culture, human sexuality, as well as the female body and writing, are approached more naturally than in cultures derived from Judeo-Christian cultural heritage. To quote a detail that seems illustrative to me: until the arrival of Admiral Perry (1854) in Japan, it was a common practice for girls and unmarried women to keep statues of the phallus on their windows, only with the arrival of Perry when Japan was under influence of Christian morality, this custom has been corrected and instead of phalluses, statues of the so-called. "Japanese cats" (Maneki neko) are used. That is why in the haiku of Japanese women we find topics such as "defloration", "menstruation" or "sexual intercourse", while in our culture they practically do not exist. This cultural difference can also be seen in the linguistic means, which are at the will of the poet. Some Japanese "kigo" carry sexual allusions, such as "snail" because the hermaphrodite has a hint of homosexuality. Again, it must be said that homosexuality is not taboo in Japanese culture as it is in Christian culture. As a result, the great British poet James Kirkup, openly homosexual, moved to Japan.

Cultural differences become even more complex when we include mediating of Anglo-Saxon culture. The Bulgarians are not Puritans, but the Aglosaxes are. And it is they who set cultural standards in Japan and the Balkans today. It has happened to me several times that an American editor returned my haiku because I had sent my "private poetry." And what real poetry is not private? This story could be heard in the good old days, when editors were still trying to justify their decisions. Today, in the flood of various "editors", the poet receives only silence in response and most often thinks that his poetry is not good, even though it actually hits invisible cultural walls. That is why young poets learn self-censorship very quickly if they want to "succeed" in the "big world." This problem is especially visible in women's poetry.

When we look at the cultural aspect, we see that the field of personal expression of Bulgarian poets is significantly narrowed compared to Japanese poets. Bulgarian poets must fight against their own and the ruling culture to express themselves, while Japanese culture supports their poets of haiku. This is a big difference and at the same time a challenge for real poets. But what is the purpose of cultural exchange, if not the expansion of the framework of one's own culture? In my opinion, this is one of the great missions of this seemingly modest form in the West.

But in addition to cultural constraints, there are also political ones, and what we usually call "women's emancipation" is related to them, and as a result it is called "women's handwriting" in the literature. If we look from the angle of haiku, "women's handwriting" would be a woman's freedom to go beyond the circle of pastoral haiku and write on topics that are vital to her. Contrary to the conservative attitude "that a woman has a place in the kitchen and next to the children" and that everything else is not her concern. Throughout Japan's long history, policies have changed and there have been times when everything has been allowed, and there have been times when nothing has been allowed. A similar situation regarding the emancipation of women was in Bulgaria. 5-6 years ago, the German producer Heino Deckert made a film with an interesting title "Was sex better in socialism or capitalism"? A series of interviews he conducted with former East German women showed that women were happier with their sex lives during socialism, which provided them with economic security. Such studies in Bulgaria would probably give similar results. A woman who is economically dependent on her husband certainly does not have much freedom to write about her own sexuality, and such writing requires some risk. The time when Shiki's student, Kyoshi Takahama, codified haiku as a pastoral poem (the Japanese name "kachofuei") and what some consider to be "the only true haiku" was the time of Japanese imperialism and the fascist regime. Shiki's "objective sketch" and Kyoshi's kacho fuei, which define pastoral haiku, were in fact a means of political censorship in haiku. Poets were not allowed to choose the topics they wrote about, they were arrested by the moral police if they violated the rules of writing. In the same way, female haiku poets were censored if they went beyond the thematic framework of the "kitchen" and embarked on a theme that today belongs to the "female handwriting" (body and sexuality). 

Interestingly, Kyoshi, who held a prominent position in this regime, has not yet been translated into English (except sporadically) for this very reason, but his "haiku rules" for pastoral haiku are widely applied. The same is true of haiku poets who write socially engaged haiku that have not yet been translated into English, as well as the entire "workers' haiku movement." In this sense, it must be understood that "women's writing" in haiku is a very sensitive topic with a political dimension. The “female handwriting” of Bulgarian haiku today largely adheres to the framework of pastoral haiku, as outlined by Kyoshi, as it does throughout the West, but in it we find both “female themes” (body and sexuality) and social political and cultural topics. So its thematic structure is as follows:

1.pastoral haiku

2."female letter" (body, sexuality)

3.socio-political and cultural topics

For the purposes of this brief discussion, I will only address the topics in points 2 and 3, because they are relevant to the assessment of "women's writing" and the emancipation of women, first introducing several Japanese haiku from the "women's writing" compare this with the "female handwriting" of the Bulgarian poets.

The moon appears,

after we have used sexually

our lips.

                   Akihiko Esato

The moon is an object of aesthetic and spiritual pleasure in Japan, "kigo" for autumn. This haiku, which thematizes the "sexual act", speaks of the spiritual fullness of sexuality, of the union of two pleasures: physical and spiritual. This is the complete opposite of the Christian understanding of spirituality, which not only separates the body from the spirit, but considers bodily pleasure to be the work of the devil. Shinto view of the world, which unites all natural processes in a common spirituality.

New Year's tea ceremony:

my friend just got pregnant

and I with menstruation.

                              Mikajo Yaagi

In this haiku we have a superposition of Buddhism and Shintoism. The tea ceremony is a highly formalized Buddhist spiritual rite, purification, but this includes pregnancy and menstruation. The key word is "menstruation". Japanese culture is an amalgam of Buddhism and Shintoism, in which Buddhism cares about form and Shintoism cares about content. The Buddhist ritual functions as a "kigo", so it is placed in the rhythm of nature, and menstruation, through the rhythm of which nature speaks in the female body, dominates this haiku. Nature completely prevails. Menstruation is, of course, a common theme in Japanese women's haiku. It is one of the main elements of female spirituality, in the way that spirituality is understood by Shintoism, because it places it in the rhythm of nature and the cosmos. In our culture, menstruation is evidence of a woman's unspirituality, an impurity that puts a woman on the spiritual ladder beneath a man.

"Good morning" to you -

my lips in shape

of a triangle.

                        Sayumi Kamakura

This haiku, which thematizes the "marriage triangle," was written by a woman emancipated from religion. In it, instead of Shintoism and Buddhism, we see modern feminism. It expresses the emotional reaction of a woman who has realized that there is another woman in her husband's life. Masterfully written haiku, which shows the poetic skill of the author, otherwise one of the leading poets of the female Gendai today. There is no "kigo", typically Gendai.

The sentence is not the end,

this is only the beginning. Strong will

will continue to spread.

                                       Fusako Shigenobu.

This haiku was written by a modern Japanese woman who, instead of religious consciousness, wrote haiku from the angle of Western ideologies, here Marxism. Fusako Shigenobu, a Japanese radical leftist, wrote this haiku in court after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for political activity. Her haiku expresses an ideological firmness that the sentence will not shake. There is no "kigo", so the connection with traditional haiku is completely severed, typically Gendai.

snow again -

how much they have grown

the footsteps of my son

                               Lyudmila Balabanova

This haiku by Lyudmila Balabanova is an example of "women's writing" within the concept of pastoral, traditional haiku. The poet uses "kigo" to talk about her family, about her growing son. "Kigo" is "snow" and the key word is "footsteps". Simple and elegant haiku that awakens faith in married life.

Summer tan.

Behind my white mature breasts

there is still a girl's heart.

                                 Venelina Petkova

Venelina Petkova is perhaps the first Bulgarian haiku poetess to show her breasts in her haiku. She should be congratulated for her courage. Although the key word is "heart" and the breasts is just a motif, this motif is underlined with two attributes: "white" and "mature". The verse says that "a man is as old as his spirit" but sexuality comes to the fore. This is the haiku of the self-conscious modern woman who wants to live a full life outside of traditional society. "Kigo" is functional ("Summer Tan"), but it is not traditional and it is a typical of Gendai.

long divorce process

I cut carefully rotten

in the apple

                      Radostina Dragostinova

Divorce litigation is a standard means of women's emancipation today. This haiku is a "feminine letter" in the style of feminism, and the author is an emancipated, modern woman. Radostina Dragostinova emphasizes her rationality with the attribute "carefully". The apple is an autumn "kigo", which in haiku still brings an atmosphere of sadness and transience. Despite the fact that "kigo" is traditionally used, the theme of this haiku is typical of Gendai, as it transcends the boundaries of pastoral and traditional haiku.

Let's throw an arrow

to the heart of the leader

to come to life.

                               Elena Divarova

Here we have a political haiku at work, which thematizes the political leadership. What is interesting is the expressive style, which is archaic in the style of pagan society, through which Japanese Shintoism seems to have spoken, ie. Susa-no-o, the common mythological ancestor of the Bulgarians and the Japanese, as the Japanese see their mythological past. Politics is certainly a contemporary topic, a topic of the modern woman, but Elena Divarova also activates the mythological past through this haiku. This haiku is typical to the Gendai both in theme and style.

On the plate

only one fish.

It will last us a lifetime.

                                  Sofia Filipova

A socially engaged haiku that uses irony as a means. Sofia Filipova thematizes social poverty, but haiku also has a cultural connotation, because fish, in addition to being a symbolic food, also means Christianity and thus becomes an expression that speaks of social restrictions of various kinds. The adjective "whole" simply emphasizes the aspect of the restriction. "Fish" is "muki kigo" (theme for the whole year), and the key word is "life". Again, typical Gendai haiku, multi-layered.

postmodernism –

s snowman from

the plastic cups

                   Zlatka Timenova

The haiku by Zlatka Timenova is a very fine critique of the postmodern era, like the era of surrogates. plastic took the place of nature (snow). Yet the game, which is immanent to human nature, has remained in this haiku. So it awakens hope for the future and makes this haiku layered, even though the image is dominated by white, which in Japan symbolizes death. The life of the play and the death of the plastic go hand in hand. There is a "kigo" ("snowman"), but it is used radically unconventionally. The key word is "postmodernism", an abstract expression. Another "Gendai" haiku.

old rug -

the language

of several generations

                 Zornitsa Harizanova

I compared this haiku of Zornitsa Harizanova earlier in the text "Forest of Subjectivity" with the well-known haiku of Basho:

The song of the reapers

in the rice field -

beginning of art.

                        Matsuo Basho

Both haiku speak of the importance of folk culture for language and art, and both poets Zornitsa and Basho came to the same poetic conclusion. However, the "female component" must be added here: the rug is a typical female product of folk culture, and this haiku speaks, among other things, about the central place of women in human culture and life. Let the awareness of the main place of women in human culture be important for the Bulgarian haiku, a kind of bright motif of this text. Haiku has no "kigo" and the key word is "language," certainly Gendai's haiku.

At the end of this overview, it should be mentioned that poets in the West, as well as in Bulgaria, began writing haiku later than in Japan. That is why many topics from an earlier life are lost to our haiku. This should mean teaching children haiku at school age. A good example is Slovenia, where there is a national haiku competition in primary school (led by Jože Štucin), and there is a national haiku competition in high school (led by Edin Saračević). Both competitions publish their own publications. But how should children learn haiku? A good example is the Japanese , who put simple 5,7,5 schemes in front of each child:

Ххххх

ххххххх -

I like.

and

Ххххх

ххххххх -

I don't like that.

Neither "kigo" nor "love of nature" but teach them to express their personality. A good start is for the child to be able to say through haiku what he or she likes and what he or she doesn't.

This brief review, I hope, showed that in Bulgaria, "female handwriting", despite all the limitations, has quality representatives and that this circle of quality must expand more and more.

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