Haiku
in the Country of Samba
Rosa Clement
Amazonas, BR |
 |
For those who know it, the word "samba" recalls the spicy music
and dance so typical of Brazil. Samba is the body language that Brazilians use
to communicate happiness with passion and sensual movements. According to a
famous old song, the Brazilian who does not like samba may not be of a sane
mind, a good metaphor to show that samba is the root that every Brazilian should
be born with. So, samba is for Brazil what haiku is for Japan. However, while
almost every Brazilian knows how to catch samba in his or her feet, not every
samba dancer knows the "music of haiku" or has even ever heard about
it. This sonorous Japanese form, full of movements, harmony and sudden twists as
well, is fascinating many Brazilians as it travels from region to region and
challenges their ability to capture the moment of haiku in three lines.
Nonetheless, just like samba, haiku has gained a Brazilian face, while
continuing to search for the right path to find its place in world haiku
history.
There are clues that the very first news of haiku (called haicai in
Brazil) came from France through traveller's books and was somehow
connected to Paul-Louis Couchoud, who remained in obscurity thereafter. Through
him, haiku spread as a literary subject in Brazil, according to Paulo
Franchetti's webpage "O Haicai no Brasil" (Haiku in Brazil; address
below). Goga Masuda mentions, in his book "O Haicai no Brasil" (Haiku
in Brazil, 1988), that haiku arrived from France with students of oriental
subjects in the first decades of the 20th century. Afrânio Peixoto (1875-1947)
also mentioned haiku in the preface to a book in 1919. A few other Brazilian
poets of that period, such as Haroldo de Campos, also developed an interest for
haiku, weaving one more strand into the Brazilian haiku origin thread.
However, most Brazilian writers first heard about the form from a well known
Brazilian poet, Guilherme de Almeida (1890-1969). Almeida spread the news about
haiku in Brazil in 1936 via an article "Os Meus Haicais" (My
Haiku, 1937). Later he published a haiku book "Poesia Vária" (Varied
Poetry, 1947). However, Almeida introduced a new style in an attempt to
adapt haiku to then-current literary conventions, which maintained the
traditional 5-7-5 syllables, but used two pairs of
rhymes: one for the first and third lines, and the other in the second line with
the second and last syllables. Additionally, his haiku had titles, sometimes
internal punctuation and were rich in metaphors. Usually these metaphors
referred to old age, death etc., but sometimes they were about nature as well.
This novelty raised great interest in other poets, who tried to imitate Almeida.
Many haiku were taught and published using rules that Almeida had created for
himself. Even today, beginning haiku writers often attempt to write haiku in the
style of Almeida:
CARIDADE
Desfolha-se a rosa
parece até que floresce
o chão cor-de-rosa.
Guilherme
de Almeida
CHARITY
Rose petals fall
it even seems that the ground
blossoms pink
(tr,
by Rosa Clement)
Later,
Brazilian writers and readers discovered that Almeida's haiku was not in the
Japanese tradition, but they continued to add new twists. Millor Fernandes
(1924-), a famous writer with a style tending to humor, as well as Paulo
Leminski (1944-1989), a poet and haiku researcher, brought to readers their own
new ways of writing haiku. Humor, pun and fewer syllables were used, although
titles and punctuation were not part of the haiku they presented to their
readers. Leminski, the rebel and radical poet, also had a greater attraction for
anthropomorphism. According to Edson Kenji Iura, Leminski's work has echoes of
Nempuku Sato's haiku (see below), while João Angelo Salvadori states (Caqui
site), that Leminski had influence from the "concrete" poetry movement
of the 1960's and 70's.
While our samba has kept warming its steps since its twentieth century
beginnings, Brazilian haiku turned a few degrees away from Almeida's style,
offering a new perspective to our haiku readers. Haiku poets started to write
like Millor and Leminski, and for a time readers and writers followed these new
styles, assured they were reading and writing fine haiku. In fact, many of these
haiku, besides being
impregnated by humor and word play, offered a moment of reflection for an
attentive reader to think about the verse more deeply. Nonetheless, if their
poems were pleasant, the styles raised doubts about if they are true haiku or
not.
"Meu dinheiro
Vem todo
Do meu tinteiro"
Millor
Fernandes
My money
all comes
from my inkwell
(tr,
by Rosa Clement)
"cortinas
de seda
o vento entra
sem pedir licença"
Paulo
Leminski
silk curtains
the wind comes in
without asking
(tr,
by Rosa Clement)
Brazilians
are currently surrounded by, but have not yet completely surrendered to
globalization and external influences affecting haiku. Most Brazilian haiku
writers believe that writing in 5-7-5 syllables is a must, and it's very common
to find writers who concentrate on this haiku feature alone. Portuguese words
are sometimes long, allowing inclusion of extra syllables with relatively little
effort. But this is not always true. Sometimes, the writer struggles to find a
single word to complete five or seven syllables, simply so that his or her haiku
can have the right number. For this reason we can find haiku with words that add
nothing but syllables, which just weakens the impact of the haiku. It is still
common to find Brazilian haiku using metaphors, similes and
anthropomorphisms. Some literary commentary favors the use of these
characteristics, while other commentary instructs the reader to avoid
these practices. This certainly confuses Brazilian readers and writers.
Brazilian writers study the old Masters, who occasionally used anthropomorphism
or metaphors for impact. They ask, if Issa, Basho, Buson, Shiki wrote that way,
why can't they do the same? The answers are often unconvincing.
Like samba, Brazilian haiku has a recent but already long history. New haiku
writers have emerged from north to south. New associations (grêmios)
were and are being created, and haiku books and anthologies based on traditional
and alternative styles are being published everywhere. Masters and pupils are
discussing the form in forums, exchanging ideas and discovering more about
the haiku universe. São
Paulo is a major starting point, were leaders like Edson Kenji Iura and Paulo
Franchetti coordinate a major haiku group that discusses numerous haiku themes.
Another important name shines in the Brazilian haiku context: Goga Masuda, 92,
of Japanese origin, is known as a haiku master. He is the author of
"Ten Haiku Commandments", a set of ten rules, published by the Caqui
website, in addition to several haiku books.
Masuda also helped to start the Grêmio Haicai Ipê, a pioneer haiku
association in São Paulo. His commandments have been very useful for
those taking their first steps in writing haiku. Goga immigrated to Brazil in
1929, later meeting Guilherme de Almeida and other people involved with haiku.
However, Goga developed greater affinities with Nempuku Sato (1898-1979), also a
poet and immigrant from Japan, who taught the art of haiku to other Japanese
immigrants. His teachings have
influenced haiku written in Portuguese. From Sato, Goga inherited the task of
teaching haiku in Portuguese, and his knowledge is valued today.
Other people, such as Paulo Franchetti, Francisco Handa, Ricardo Silvestrin,
Teruko Oda from São Paulo, and Alice Ruiz from Paraná, have already published
books about haiku. Alice Ruiz gives talks about haiku, emphasizing its zen
aspect. She was also Paulo Leminski's wife and her style is quite similar to
his. In Amazonas, writers and poets such as Samuel Benchimol, Luiz Bacellar,
Anibal Beça, Zemaria Pinto, Rosa
Clement, Anisio Melo, João Batista Evangelhista, Jorge Tufic and Simão Pessoa
have published haiku, each in the style they believe to be haiku.
International haiku researchers and writers such as R.H.Blyth, William
Higginson, Robert Spiess and Jane Reichhold are slowly becoming part of the
Brazilian haiku vocabulary.
If in Brazil, samba dancers reproduce the same steps from north to south during
all seasons, these seasons have their differences from region to region. Even in
the north, Brazil's Amazonian region, where nearly year-round rain and sun
predominate, we may discover a period where flowers seem to be abundant
everywhere. Brazil's south clearly has all four seasons, but in the southwest,
some seasons are abbreviated or occasionally lacking. On the other hand, when
it's "summer" in Amazonia it's "winter" in São Paulo.
Thus, our kigo may vary quite a lot and
sometimes some of us have trouble choosing a season word. Goga and Teruko Oda
published "Natureza - Berço do Haicai" (Nature - Cradle of
Haiku, 1996), a book with a season word (kigo) list, which may be more
useful for the southern part of Brazil, but the northern part needs to
prepare its own list -- what seasons to include is a good question for a region
with only a drier and a wetter season. While in the south there is a great set
of images for haiku, such as the lovely ipê trees which bloom in yellow
and purple colors, Amazonia has its harpoons and nets, and wings cross the
forest daily.
While samba maintains its own pace without changes, Portuguese-language haiku in
Brazil is slowly changing, sometimes approaching the traditional Japanese style,
sometimes discovering ways to approach modern haiku based on international
literature, in an attempt to keep up with world haiku thought. It's not an easy
step to learn! Slowly, a few Brazilian writers have become aware that there are
new ways and rules that can be followed or discarded. However, there is
resistance to adopt new haiku approaches, since they generally lack a defined
set of rules that can persuade the writer.
Learning how to write haiku is an everyday task. While it is a simple process,
it is also a matter of finding the right moment, and the words to register and
perpetuate our images. We need to learn that sometimes we may need to use 17
syllables, while at other times just a few are enough to pass the image and the
moment to the reader, but that the essence is the main ingredient of this image.
We hope that the rhythm, cadence and moment of the haiku will become as easy to
master as the steps of a samba dance.
With thanks to Charles R. Clement and Edson Kenji Iura for reviewing this
essay.
Bibliography:
http://www.kakinet.com/caqui/gago.htm
http://www.kakinet.com/caqui/leminski.htm
http://www.geocities.com/fqueiroga/leminsky.html
http://www.releituras.com/millor_bio.asp
http://www.secrel.com.br/jpoesia/millor08.html
http://www.unicamp.br/~franchet/histhaik.htm
http://www.kakinet.com/caqui/nempuku.shtml
http://www.unicamp.br/~franchet/histhaik.htm
Charles R. Clement
crc@internext.com.br
cclement@horizon.com.br
cclement@inpa.gov.br
http://www.inpa.gov.br/cpca/charlesc.html
