Tanka prose

Tanka prose

Tanka prose is a literary genre whose individual compositions employ two modes of writing -— verse and prose. It was first composed by Japanese poets, often in the elementary form of a prose commentary or anecdote to accompany a poem, and only later in the more extended forms of memoir and diary. Tanka prose, therefore, is related to but predates another Japanese literary form, haibun, and differs from haibun in the verse form that it utilizes. Tanka prose employs tanka with prose while haibun employs haiku with prose. Tanka were composed in Japan for nearly a millennium before the advent of haiku. Early examples of tanka prose are the "Tosa Diary" [William N. Porter, Translator. "The Tosa Diary of Ki no Tsurayuki". Boston, MA: Tuttle Publishing, 1981.] by Ki no Tsurayuki (940 M.E.) and the "Gossamer Years" [Edward Seidentsticker, Translator. "The Gossamer Years: The Diary of a Noblewoman of Japan". Boston, MA: Charles E. Tuttle, 1961.] by the woman known as “the mother of Michitsuna” (980 M.E.). Early haibun, by contrast, are the 17th century works of Matsuo Bashō, [David Landis Barnhill, Translator. "Basho’s Journey: The Literary Prose of Matsuo Basho". State University of New York Press, 2005.] some seven centuries later.

Tanka prose, in its many varied forms, is built upon one common basic unit of composition (one paragraph, one tanka). [Jeffrey Woodward. “The Elements of Tanka Prose,” "Modern English Tanka" V2, N4 (Summer 2008), 194-197.] The simplest applications of this “basic unit” are two and are common to classical Japanese and contemporary English-language practice: preface and poem tale. [Jeffrey Woodward. “The Road Ahead for Tanka in English,” "Modern English Tanka" V2, N2 (Winter 2007), 180-181.] The preface is expository and often concerned with little more than sketching the motive and setting of the composition. A poem tale, as the name implies, adopts narrative qualities, whether the narration is abbreviated and anecdotal or expansive and closer to the short story proper.

Variation in the number and placement of tanka in relation to the prose is widespread in today’s practice of the tanka prose genre. [Woodward, “Elements,” op. cit., 197-203.] The basic unit of one paragraph of prose, one tanka, is a very common form while inversion of that unit (one tanka followed by one paragraph of prose) is a frequent variation. Another common form of tanka prose is the verse envelope—tanka, prose, tanka. Many other forms are in use, most generated by inversion or compounding of the basic unit of one paragraph, one tanka. These variations in number and placement of tanka are not without effect upon the flavor and character of the individual tanka prose work. Tanka prose in English is in its infancy. Sanford Goldstein’s “Tanka Walk,” (1983), [Sanford Goldstein, “Tanka Walk,” "Northeast" III:15 (1983), 26–32.] is perhaps the earliest example known. Jane Reichhold, Larry Kimmel, Gary LeBel and Linda Jeannette Ward are some other notable poets who adopted tanka prose in the 1990s. Contemporary practitioners include LeBel, Bob Lucky and Patricia Prime. Online journals where new examples of the genre appear with some regularity include [http://www.haibuntoday.com/"Haibun Today"] and [http://www.shortverse.com/MET/"Modern English Tanka"] .

Notes

Bibliography

*Kunschke, Ingrid. “Tanka und Prosa,” [http://www.tankanetz.de/tanka-und-prosa.html "TankaNetz" (December 2004)] (in German).
*Prime, Patricia. “Irresistible Constructions: a tanka prose essay,” [http://www.modernenglishtanka.com/vol3/MET9_final.html "Modern English Tanka" V3, N1 (Autumn 2008).]
*Prime, Patricia. “Talking Points: Jeffrey Woodward on Haibun and Tanka Prose,” [http://simplyhaiku.com/SHv6n3/features/Woodward.html "Simply Haiku" V6, N3 (Autumn 2008).]
* [http://www.sfpoetry.org/ "Santa Fe Poetry Broadside 55: Tanka Prose Special Issue" (September 2008).]
* Woodward, Jeffrey. “The Elements of Tanka Prose,” [http://www.shortverse.com/digital/2008b/"Modern English Tanka" V2, N4 (Summer 2008).]
* Woodward, Jeffrey. “The Road Ahead for Tanka in English,” [http://www.shortverse.com/digital/2007d/"Modern English Tanka" V2, N2 (Winter 2007).]
* Woodward, Jeffrey (Editor). "The Tanka Prose Anthology". Baltimore, MD: Modern English Tanka Press, ©2008. ISBN 978-0-9817-6913-4.


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