Understanding Humor in Japan by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: INscribe Digital
Published: 2006-02-15T16:00:00+00:00

Hair combs made of tsuge (boxwood) were expensive and had long been favored by Japanese women. This poem describes the poet’s state of mind as she abandons the material interests of the real world and enters the tranquillity of the Buddhist life.

The true kyōka of Chie no Naishi, however, also evidence her profound knowledge of the Japanese classics. Typical is the following, which depends upon classical allusions for its comic effects:

ON A RAINY NIGHT OF THE FULL MOON

Tonight is the night of the full moon; but it is raining so the full moon does not shine through the clouds. Since the Shining Prince (a personification of the moon) will not come, a gathering with dear friends for storytelling will not be very exciting. This is the argument of the poem. Chie no Naishi displays her special skill here in her use of engo (intertextually associated words that are rich in classical allusion). Hikaru kimi refers not only to the moon but also to the fictional Shining Prince, Hikaru Genji, hero of the classic Tale of Genji; and saenu is intertextually related both to “not shining” and to “an unexciting calculation done with an abacus.” Because over time the word kimi, meaning “Lord,” came to be used euphemistically or familiarly for “you” (as addressed to a boy or a younger male), a second meaning is embraced in which the poet conveys warm and homely feelings between herself and an unnamed companion. Although the theme is not particularly momentous or innovative, the wordplay with which Chie no Naishi constructed this poem justifies her reputation as one of the most talented kyōka poets of the time.

Conclusion

The basic technique of kyōka composition is the skillful use of allusion, which is really part of an exquisite subterfuge. The elements of humor, satirical comment, and parody in kyōka derive from altering in an incongruous way a part of the foundational material located in waka, monogatari ( tales), nikki ( diaries), and essays. The end result is not a crude reduction of the original with outright ridicule but rather a gentle mocking acknowledgment of the human realities beneath the elegant poetic ideal.

The Edo period saw the full flowering of kyōka verse as an accepted form of poetic composition. In a period of Neo-Confucian dominance, it is remarkable that two of the prime exemplars of kyōka verse were women, and commoners at that. Their compositions not only evidence a refined poetical taste and skillful use of the techniques of composition but also demonstrate complete familiarity with the Japanese and Chinese classics. Furthermore, their fame is not just retrospective, surfacing through modern scholarship: they were well known and well appreciated in their own milieu and time. Their reputations were independent of their husbands’ despite the fact that both couples worked in partnership. Their achievements demonstrate that poetry could then, as it can now, empower a woman, allowing her to engage in discourse that is otherwise reserved for men. A woman can express her strength, pleasure, or anger through poetic allusion.

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