Soft Cheese

Soft Cheese

world haiku; the limits of poetry translations; haiku and universality;

Out of the depth of his concern for a world haiku movement, Jim Kacian wonders whether in its international success, haiku will be able to retain its distinctiveness as an art form. He makes the concern concrete through an extended analogy between haiku and Camembert cheese, asking if its success means an inevitable decline in the quality of the experience offered, and a loss of authenticity, as was the case with the cheese when it achieved international success and was widely imitated, sometimes with minimal concern for the quality of the original.

Kacian,Jim

Red Moon Press

2007