26 January to 2 February
Japanese short-form poetry: an analogue of sustainable living?
Those who seek to downplay climate change, and therefore our pressing need for sustainable lifestyles, often emphasise the losses this would impose: less convenience, less global travel, fewer consumer 'comforts'. But as E.F. Schumacher noted, 'since consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption'. Presenting an appealing vision of such minimal living is often a challenge, but the Japanese poetic tradition may offer a useful analogue.
Japanese poetry has a remarkably consistent aesthetic: intimately concerned with nature and our place in it, Japanese forms seek to embody the 'pathos of things', revealing and celebrating fragility and impermanence in a sparing, austere verse. Modern haiku, for instance, are written over three lines in up to seventeen syllables; tanka, over five in up to thirty one:
when asked,
I said 'yes' -
this year I join
the birds that sing
in winter
(Jeanne Emrich)
Reading Japanese poetry is a habit of mind, a receptive attitude to the reality of the world. If, similarly, we can learn to appreciate what is essential, to consume only what we need, we may find ourselves richer rather than poorer for the effort.
James Roderick Burns is a graduate of the MSt in Creative Writing programme at Oxford University. His latest collection is Greetings from Luna Park.