Bashō's Journey: The Literary Prose of Matsuo Bashō

GLOSSARY

G L O S S A R Y bashō. “Banana” or “plantain.” A small, tropical-looking tree with large oblong leaves that rarely bears fruit in Japan. The leaves tear easily in wind and rain, and so the plant has become a symbol of impermanence. Matsuo Bashō took his most famous pen name from this plant precisely because it was so vulnerable to nature elements and “useless.” A seasonal word for autumn. danrin. A popular school of haikai poetry established by Nishiyama Sōin (1605–1682). It gave poets greater freedom in subject matter, imagery, tone, and poetic composition than the earlier Teimon School. Bashō was a follower of this school before he set up his own, known as Shōmon. fūga. “The poetic spirit.” A combination of “wind” and “elegance ,” this term refers to the aesthetic vitality and sensitivity found in haikai poetry as well as associated arts such as waka, landscape painting, and the tea ceremony. haibun. “Haikai prose-poems.” Normally a brief prose text that exhibits haikai aesthetics and includes hokku. Bashō was the first great haibun writer. haikai. “Comic, unorthodox.” An abbreviation of haikai no renga, but also used as a general term for other genres and art forms that show haikai no renga aesthetics and what Bashō called the poetic spirit (fūga). In this general sense, it might be translated as Haikai Poetry or Haikai Art. For Bashō it involved a combination of both comic playfulness 181 and spiritual depth, both ascetic practice and involvement in the “floating world” of human society. haikai no renga. “Comic renga,” although “unorthodox” or “plebian” may be more accurate than “comic.” A verse form, similar to traditional renga, that developed in the late medieval and Tokugawa periods. Compared to traditional renga, its aesthetics were more inclusive in subject matter and imagery and more earthy and playful in tone. Parodies of the classical literature were common. Bashō was a master of haikai no renga. haiku. An independent verse form with a 5–7–5 syllabic rhythm. A modern term, its was popularized by the great but shortlived poet Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902), who wanted to establish the haiku as a verse form that stands by itself, separate from the linked verses of a renga. It is supposed to contain a season word (kigo). When the West first learned about Bashō and other premodern poets, the term haiku was anachronistically applied to their hokku. Properly speaking, haiku refers only to poems written in the modern period (beginning 1868). hokku. “Opening stanza.” The first stanza of a renga, with a 5–7–5 syllabic rhythm. This stanza was considered the most important and was usually offered by the master poet at a linked-verse gathering. A season word was required. Eventually poets wrote hokku as semi-independent verse: as potential starting verses for a renga sequence, to accompany prose in travel journals and haibun, or to be admired on their own. kigo. “Season word.” A word that in the literary tradition suggests a particular season (e.g., autumn) and possibly a part of a season (e.g., early spring), even if the object (e.g., moon or bush warbler) may be seen in other seasons. Season words may be an image derived from human activity (such as a seasonal ritual) as well as from nature. Every hokku and haiku should contain a season word. Traditionally collections of Japanese hokku and haiku verse were organized by seasonal order. There are now numerous season words dictionaries (saijiki or kigo jiten). 1 8 2 B a s h ō’ s J o u r n e y kikō bungaku. “Travel literature.” Accounts of travel in prose, often accompanied by verse. Similar to and overlapping nikki bungaku, diary literature. monogatari. “Narrative.” Prose narratives and tales, often including verse and sometimes quite lengthy. The genre began and reached its peak in the Heian Period (794–1186). The most famous is The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari), by Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 1000). mujō. “Impermanence.” A prominent and complex idea in Japanese literature as well as Buddhism and Daoism, and central to Bashō’s writings. One of the most fundamental aspects of life is its changefulness, which can take many forms: the regular cycles of the seasons, the creative transformations of nature, the rise and inevitable fall of ruling houses, the inescapable degeneration of aging, the inconstancy of lovers, the inevitability of death, the uncertainty...