A little vent

category: Writing
by Soph,

I haven’t had much to blog about lately which is why there’s been a lack of posts here, but right now I need to have a bit of a vent. My housemate went to a creative writing course today from 10am to 4pm. He’s just come back and told me that he’s been asked to write some poems and a couple of haiku for next time - this obviously interested me because poetry and haiku are two things I’m really keen about in the world of literature. However, I had a feeling as soon as he started to talking to my other flatmates about ‘haikus’ (haiku is its own plural) that he may not have been taught about this poetic form very well. I asked if he’d been told that haiku have to written in 5-7-5 format, and his answer was ‘yes, of course’.

This makes me die a little inside.

If you read my post a while back about what a haiku is, then you’ll know that many English-speaking haijin believe that haiku should not be written in the 5-7-5 format that is so often taught in schools (and apparently even at university level, which I find really distressing). Haiku should also always be about nature, and yet my friend read us one that he’d written during the day which had nothing to do with nature at all. I know it’s obviously not his fault and I’m not angry at him - just extremely irritated that he was taught how to write this delicate form in a way that is just wrong. Whoever was leading the course probably didn’t even teach the students who Basho was - the father of haiku - and perhaps hadn’t even heard of him themselves. I wonder if the people on the course even know that haiku is a Japanese form?

I didn’t tell my friend any of this because I don’t really want to start a debate about how to write haiku, especially as it’s not supposed to be a form with rigorous rules and regulations (eg. 5-7-5!) - I just had to let some of this out here. All done.

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Comments

5 Comments so far

John | 17 November 2007, 17:41
I still think you should correct them on the matter! It seems silly them learning it wrong and then if someone doesn’t correct them then the wrongness will be spread far and wide. Doesn’t sound like the lecturer really knows what they’re supposed to be teaching.
SzélsőFa | 19 November 2007, 11:30
If this roommate really wants to write an ‘original’ haiku, then why not educate him about rules and non-rules?
I also might like to know more about it.
strugglingwriter | 19 November 2007, 14:26
“This makes me die a little inside.” - I guess you care a little bit about haiku, huh

This was a rant, but also had a lot of good information. I’ll have to check out Basho on wikipedia.
Absolute Vanilla (and Atyllah) | 01 December 2007, 08:28
I love the passion you feel for haiku. What I love more is the fact that haiku do not have to be written in the standard 5-7-5 form that we all seem to be taught. To my mind that gives room from more profound simple expression, rather than feeling obliged to stick to a very particular format.
Jesus Tachatte | 05 January 2008, 01:52
Have you read some of the ranting going on at http://www.sosickofyou.com ? Your rants would be a perfect match. I just love reading what others have to say

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