Haiku and French Feminism

 Of Haiku, Tattoo and French Feminism 

S Z H Abidi 

   I have been, and still  am, very fond of Prof. R.K.Singh's Haikus which have had a potent influence on my own Haiku-writing but, as it has always been pointed out, one cannot match a Maestro nor should one dare to do so. I got introduced to Haiku whenI had started teaching Ezra Pound's"Hokku-like"poem "In A Station Of The Metro " which runs as:

The apparition of the faces in the crowd

Petals on a wet black bough.

The above poem is not exactly a Haiku but a brilliant example of Imagist/Grammar School of poetry marked by concreteness, visual imagery,economy of words,precision and accuracy.The above-mentioned poem also fits in the definition of poetry by Ezra Pound:"poetry is inspired Mathematics. " Pound's Imagist poem has double metaphors and draws imagery from Nature.Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry consisting of three lines with the pattern of five syllables,seven syllables and five syllables respectively  and imagery in it is generally drawn from Nature.Prof.R.K.Singh is a leading exponent and practitioner of Haiku not only in India but also globally. 

         One of Prof.R.K.Singh's Haikus which I came across  and read in German News  struck my imagination.It runs as:

 A butterfly landed

 On the butterfly tattooed

On her sunning back.

The above Haiku  reappeared as:

A butterfly  rested 

On the butterfly tattooed

On her sunning back.

I have used this Haiku in classrooms to teach syllable-breaking and scansion as also to illustrate one formula of what is called French Feminism that is,"The Newly Born Woman ". The Newly Born Woman is different from "The New Woman".

         

        "THE Newly Born Woman"has won back her body which was earlier in the hands of Patriarchy. The paradox of Patriarchy is that it gives only one identity that is, sexual/physical identity but independent  of male desire eventhat identity is withdrawn and a woman is made to cover her body and learn some shame. Imtiaz Dharkar has beautifully critiqued it in her Purdah poems .This phenomenon is,in the feminist parlance, called Madonna-whore dichotomy or Devi-Dasi syndrome. "The Newly Born Woman "does not suffer from"stupid sexual modesty."Her body is,for her,a means of empowerment. She returns the male gaze with a feminist  wink.She writes with her body. The female language oozes from1001 pores of her body.

    French Feminism  is a post-Structuralist phenomenon. It is rooted in Repression  and is based on the Lacanian revision of Freudian psycho-sexual theories.Freud had said,"Anatomy is Destiny "It seemed to feminists that Freud had denigrated women but later they decided to celebrate their sexual difference.French Feminism has three main components: body(Cixious),Chora(Julia Kristeva) and Lips (LuceIrigaray)

 In the post-modernist context the Newly Born Woman celebrates her body and carries tattooed images of roses,snakes,scorpions,butterflies and other images on her breast,thighs, midriff, and back etc.French Feminism is grounded  in'Sext'( portmanteau of sex and text) and Gynesis(sexuality of text and Texuality of sex).

  In my humble opinion, R.K.Singh's sunning-backgirl has put on a  backless top.Hence Art deceives Nature. The Haiku girl is the newly born woman.

--S Z H ABIDI