My speech is about kokkei, which means humor in English. Kokkei is the resource of laughter. It is an important
key word to think about within our
theme
of "haiku East and West",
because
sometimes we share laughter in the
WHA, laughter
that transcends cultural differences.
It
is important that world haiku appreciates
the commonality of laughter. There
may be
a common pleasure for mankind in it.
I have one more reason to speak about kokkei and humor. Japanese haiku started as a kind of poetry
for laughter in the medieval period.
Until the 14th century, there were two ways
to make poetry in Japan. One was to make
a Chinese poem. Another was to make a Japanese
poem called waka. The vocabularies used in each style were
different. And the vocabularies used
in normal
life weren't adopted in both styles.
But haikai, which was born from waka in the medieval times, used both Chinese
poetic vocabulary and vocabulary from
everyday
life. It was a joke in those days.
Actually,
in ancient China, a word of haikai meant kokkei. Haikai is an ancestor of haiku. For such a reason,
haiku is literature of a laughter.
Haiku was born as a poetry of laughter from
the international exchange of different cultures.
It was the start of a tide which tried to
catch the truth by free expression which
deviated from the external orthodox.
Teitoku Matsunaga was a haiku poet from
the 16th century to the 17th century. His
famous haiku is the following.
Shioruru-wa nani-ka annzu-no hana-no iro Withering is something to worry
the color of apricot blossoms
An apricot often appeared in Chinese poetry. But it didn't appear in Japanese waka poetry, because anzu, which means apricot, has a Chinese-like pronunciation. Teitoku purposefully used an apricot in Japanese poetry. This was kokkei in itself. Moreover, there is another example of kokkei in this haiku. Anzu, which means apricot, has another meaning. In ancient Japanese anzu is the verb which means "to worry". So the poet succeeded in giving anxiety to the pretty blossoms which look like cherry blossoms. Though this is a mere pun, I feel it becomes a good haiku to appreciate the prettiness of apricot blossoms. After that, in the age of Basho, haikai became the poetry which suggests the consciousness
of delicate beauty and the inner world,
and
haikai seemed to leave kokkei. However, I think haikai didn't leave kokkei, but it actually deepened kokkei.
There are many kinds of laughter: a pun,
pathos, wit, laughter of discrimination,
humor and so on. Basho produced symbolic
kokkei. The following is his famous haiku.
Michinobe-no mukuge-wa uma-ni kuwarekeri Blooming by the road mallow flowers
eaten by the horse
This is a light laugh. Oh! it was eaten. Here is surprise and transience. And the vital force of the horse is described, too. There are no explanations. But this is one complicated scene if you sharpen your sense of humor. When he read the haiku, it became world literature. Because what
Basho produced in haiku was the same
thing
as humor based on the humanism which
was
discovered by Westerners. Basho was
not angry
at the horse. Nor does he cry for the
mallow
flowers. He felt sympathy for both,
and he
was also smiling at the world in which
such
a thing can happen. At that time, the
laughter
which Western humor understands was
born
in Japan. So Basho's haiku is understood
all through the world.
Next is a modern haiku by Shiki Masaoka who was called the reformer of modern haiku. Hechima sai-te tan-no tsumari-shi hotoke-kana Loofah flower blooming Hotoke's phlegm
stuck in his throat
Hotoke means Buddha. But it also means a person who is dying. This haiku is famous as his last poem. Hotoke is Shiki himself who is about to die. Here is a poet who tries to understand even his death by his kokkei spirit. He tries to smile at his death. This spirit doesn't belong only to eastern
people. Even in the Hollywood movie, there
are men who make a joke in a situation in
which they surely die. Not only does it make
the movie interesting, but also human truth
is expressed. This is the ideal attitude
with which to face death and one's destiny.
Some may believe it is like the comprehension
of Zen. North American haiku poets take the
influence of Zen strongly. Their method is
very radical. We Japanese know Zen and haiku
are different cultures, though there is a
point of contact between the two.
This is the one point of contact, in my
opinion. They find a crack in daily life
and try to look at the other side of the
world through the crack. This is the spirit
of kokkei. It is important for haiku that we can see
the world a little different.
Next, I will state my thought on the question:
Why does a person laugh? So far, the cause
of laughter was thought to be a misunderstanding,
logical contradiction or a mistake. However,
these can produce other emotions such as
anger or sorrow.
They are not the sufficient condition for
laughter.
Then, what produces laughter? They are "understanding"
and "sympathy" between the expressing
person and the receiver. In another words,
it is a form of communication.
Therefore, an infant laughs when he finds
his mother. Or the unfair people wink and
laugh when the object of the discrimination
is discovered.
Then what kind of communication does the
kokkei of haiku have?
We have to understand this communication
beyond common knowledge and from different
point of view.
In short, we have to express the relationship
of meanings different from ordinary ones.
When it was received, laughter was produced.
Therefore, from the side of common sense
a deviation was laughed at. The other way
around, the present system was laughed at
from a "meta-level". The true meaning
of kokkei is to rejoice in the recognition of understanding
situations from a deeper level.
There are many forms of kokkei. By what you laugh at, and how you laugh,
your personality is judged by the surrounding
people. For this reason, you must be
careful
of kokkei. Haiku has the element of kokkei strongly and it challenges ordinary worldviews.
It is not confused about the present
world,
but rather acquires a deeper world
view.
During the 20th century, western philosophy
became popular in Japan. So humor based on
humanism spread in Japan, and western humor
connected to kokkei very smoothly.
The person who theorized about modern kokkei
is a haiku poet, Shimei Nakagawa, who played
an active part in western Japan in the beginning
of 20th century. He was a teacher of aesthetics.
He classified a haiku by the Western standard
such as wit and pathos. And he said "humor"
is the best among many kinds of laughter.
He used the German word, "humor".
Nakagawa's humor is laughter with the consciousness
that the person who sees and the one who
is seen are the same human being. That is
laughter at one's self. Even if you laugh
at others, it means to laugh at the funniness
of human beings, including yourself. It is
never discriminatory. It is communication
to understand each other from various points
of view. Nakagawa thought the haiku of Shiki
Masaoka had humor, too. After Nakagawa's
study, Japanese kokkei and western humor have come to be considered
having relationship.
Perhaps, Hosai Ozaki, famous for free rhythm haiku, understood Nakagawa's theory. sabishii karada kara tume ga nobidasu A nail begins growing from my lonely body
What he says may be commonplace. But it has a deep insight. Though I'm so lonely, nails grow as they like. He laughed at the vitality of his body without relation to his mind. It is a lonely laugh, but every human being has this loneliness and that is beyond borders. Here is the point of agreement between a deep mental state and laughter. Western humor and Japanese kokkei are not always the same. What is considered
funny is different in every culture.
German
"humor" and English humor
are different.
Not to mention, there are only a few
Japanese
who can understand American jokes.
But as part of its basis, the Japanese tradition
of kokkei accepted Western humor. And Japanese kokkei was accepted by western countries. So haiku
spread through the world. For instance,
one
of the directors of W.H.A., David Lanoue,
translated some thousands of haiku
written
by Issa.
In the end I'll introduce some Japanese haiku. Den Inoue continues to make colloquial haiku: Huyu-shibai aa touchan-wa shima-yaburri The play on the winter stage Oh! my darling is
a prison breaker
Here, tradition of humor breathes. Last year I enjoyed "Flying Pope",
a haiku series written by Banya Natsuishi.
At first the motif of these works was the
irony of existence having absolute status.
The next example shows this clearly.
howaito-hausu-e sora tobu houou kage utsusu To the White House the shadow cast
by the Flying Pope However, these are not mere irony. An excellent point of this haiku series is expressing the humanity of the man of power. This is kokkei humor. So in some works, the Pope seems to be Mr.Natsuishi himself. Sora tobu houou konsui shita mama chakuriku-su Flying Pope - in a coma
he lands
This shows the writer was tired out by the work of WHA. What I have found is that this series has pathos, humor, joke, irony, and all kinds of kokkei. Natsuishi's haiku replaces the powerful, simple kokkei of original haiku with a complicated, modern kokkei. Like this, kokkei begins from laughing at the mismatch of
words and grows, deepening its contents,
having the power to relativize the
existing
cultural outline. This power of haiku
is
succeeding now.
In traditional Japanese haiku there is a
form of 5-7-5 sound units. But in western
haiku there isn't a form of 5-7-5. So many
people say western haiku isn't haiku in Japan.
Such people stick to the formalities and
miss the essence of haiku. The essence of
haiku is to destroy their square recognition
and show the truth by kokkei.
In fact, your haiku expand and dig deep
into my inner world. I'm deeply grateful
to you for that. Thank you for listening
to my speech to the end.
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