I was struck by the collaborative nature of Bashō's linked verse. Similarly, the democratization of language within the Haikai tradition, wherein whole types of use-language and hybrid-language were available to the Haikai poet which were unavailable in other traditional forms, seems like a wonderful celebration of the variety, intricacy, and interconnection of real-world language. In particular, I like the concept of very different dictions and syntaxes cohabitating within a poem, especially in such a concentrated and brief form.
With these two ideals in mind, I found the afterward to the English translation of Machi Tawara’s collection to convincingly place her in that same tradition. She takes up the practices, according to the afterward, of juxtaposing and interlocking modern and traditional words and phrases and of celebrating the community aspect of the work itself—publishing 1,500 Tankas from inspired fans alongside her own poems.
It strikes me that following these ideals in constructing new poetry and celebrating the output of the previous generations of poets are not obviously (to me anyway) unified ends. For one thing, the constant evolution of language entrenches even the most inspired syntactic combinations. A process which is only exacerbated as texts become canonized.
-Elijah Frydman
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