Tension in haiku

[Bea]

Hi, All!

One aspect of haiku that I'm really struggling with right now is the idea of "tension." I tend to think of tension as something bad (like a tension headache) or at least unpleasant (waiting longer than one was really expecting)

I have heard and seen that tension is what can change an OK haiku into a great (or at least very good) haiku, and I think I sense it in some of the haiku I read.

But what exactly IS tension in haiku?
Along what lines should I be thinking when I want to add tension to a haiku?

Thanks for your consideration!
;D
Bea

[cat]

Hello, Bea,

Like you, I think of "tension" as somewhat of a negative thing.  So it's not the way I usually think/speak of the thing that it refers to, unless the conversation has already started around that terminology.

Maybe this will get you thinking along a different path.  On the other hand, maybe it's so far out in left field, it's right up against the Green Monster (oops, that may only make sense to AL East fans).  But anyway . . .

I tend to think of the two parts of a haiku as having a little gap between them.  When the gap is right, a spark leaps between the two, and in this little flash of illumination, the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts.  The word I like to use to describe this is the French "frisson" -- I don't think we have an exact equivalent in English.  It's a little sizzle of recognition or excitement, I guess you could say as though you've just discovered something you knew but didn't know you knew.  Does that make any sense?  (I just got back from a meeting with the school committee and my bargaining unit, so I don't have much brain left.)  It's the way I think of it, anyway.

Hope this helps,
cat

[AlanSummers]

Hi Bea,

Cat puts it well.

I used to say the spark between car plugs, but that's probably outdated with hybrid cars now. ;-)
Starting plugs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_plug

Terms like tension and resonance will be applied often, and I don't tend to mix up tension in haiku, with other sorts of tension, but as you do, maybe use frisson like Cat suggests: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/frisson

If you want to start considering getting a few more books for your haiku library, here's a quote from a review:

Tension:
More recently, in Traces of Dreams, Haruo Shirane offers a fine discussion of the tension between the horizontal plane of imagistic perception and resonating vertical plane of associations common to all haiku and at the heart of the aesthetics of linking in renga.

The quote is from the Modern Haiku review of Poems of Consciousness: Contemporary Japanese & English-Language Haiku in Cross-Cultural Perspective by Richard Gilbert: http://www.modernhaiku.org/bookreviews/Gilbert2009.html

But before you get that book try for Traces of Dreams by Haruo Shirane
http://www.amazon.com/Traces-Dreams-Landscape-Cultural-Memory/dp/0804730997/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302084240&sr=1-1

In my 'umble opinion, tension or frisson are more important than the so-called Aha! moment which often weakens an attempt at haiku. . ;-)

Alan

p.s.

If you haven't tried renga or renku, it's where haiku evolved and developed from, and is a useful area in which to learn more about haiku because of the linking and shifting.

[cat]

Alan!

You gave me an idea.

I know you are extremely busy with all your workshops, With Words, Haijinx, and whatnot, but wouldn't it be fun to do a renga here -- something not too taxing to start with, like a shisan renga?  It would be a good learning experience for those who haven't done one before.

What do you think?

cat

[AlanSummers]

Hi Cat,

It's not a bad idea at all! ;-)  After all we are often told that if we want to understand haiku we have to do renga.

I often do shisan renga for workshops and even for my big 1000 verse renga projects (senku) because I can fit a shisan into 2 hours if that's all I'm given.

The other good reason for you selecting  shisan renga is that it's the only one, to my knowledge, that follows the normal natural order of the seasons.  Other renga, and renku, do a poetic arranged order.

Alan

[AlanSummers]

Following on from Cat's great idea I'm going to set up a shisan renga topic.

All we need to do is submit haiku that are to do with the current month or season.

More will become obvious over postings. ;-)

Alan

[cat]

Yay!

Looking forward to it, Alan.

Thank you.

cat

[cat]

Oops!

Sorry, Bea, for hijacking your thread.   :-[

cat

[lulu]

In response to "tension" or "frisson."  Yes. It is a much more accurate description of what a good haiku is, for it appears that the "aha" moment has gotten drunk, and may even be an alcoholic.



(removed link as it doesn't qualify under our TOS ... takes people to an insurance commercial website, Don)

[AlanSummers]

Dear Lulu,

Thanks for showing the link.  Yes, overuse of the phrase Aha! moment has probably caused many people to attempt haiku with a punchline or some other obvious end result.

I'm afraid that Western notion of haiku has done some damage, so better to stick to tension or frisson.

all my best,

Alan

[Don Baird]

"a moment of clarity" ...

"a defining moment" ...

"Spark" works for me as the impetus for both of those to occur.

An enjoyable thread and a needed discussion. Thanks Bea for such a great question!

Don