Jo Ha Kyū and Fu Bi Xing; Reading|Viewing Haiku

Kendall, J

Abstract

Theorists and critics such as John Berger, Sabine Gross and Michel Foucault have emphasized the very different experience that occurs when a text is approached through a viewing or a reading mode. The extent to which both modes are used alters the experience again. The characteristics and history of haiku encourages extensive use of both modes. Whether reading or viewing is emphasized depends on variables that include the writing system(s) used, the language, orientation and shape on the page, and the number of lines. In order to understand the varying effects of employment of these modes, the Japanese aesthetics of jo ha kyū will be applied to original and translated haiku by English poets and haiku written by the Japanese masters. An aesthetic formulation applied to various traditional arts such as Nō drama, a current interpretation of jo ha kyū can be roughly translated as "beginning, breaking or developing, and rushing to an end indicating that the activity begins slowly, speeds up, and then concludes very swiftly. Today, jo ha kyū tends to be considered as applicable only to the movements that occur in temporal-based theatre. However, it was originally applied to literature and is still very pertinent to the haiku form. In addition, the older Chinese principles of fu bi xing from which jo ha kyū originated illuminate further the process of reading and/or viewing haiku.

Citation

Kendall, J. (2016). Jo Ha Kyū and Fu Bi Xing; Reading|Viewing Haiku. In JuxtaTwo: The Journal of Haiku Research and Scholarship (37-58). The Haiku Foundation

• Acceptance Date: Jan 12, 2016
• Publication Date: Mar 10, 2016
• Deposit Date: Feb 9, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 15, 2016
• Pages: 37-58
• Book Title: JuxtaTwo: The Journal of Haiku Research and Scholarship
• ISBN: 9780982695135
• Publisher URL: http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/juxta/juxta-2-1/jo-ha-kyu-and-fu-bi-xing/
• Related Public URLs: http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/juxta/about-juxta/