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Issa and the Meaning of Animals: A Buddhist Poet's Perspective
The poetry of Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) can coax readers toward an insight sorely needed in our animals are like people and deserve our care and compassion. Animals work like people, play like people, sing, dance, make love, start families, and participate in seasonal celebrations from New Year's Day to end-of-year drinking parties--as portrayed in the haiku of Issa. They can also, according to the Pure Land Buddhism to which Issa subscribed, attain enlightenment in a future life. Recognizing animals, as Issa does, as fellow travelers in a shared world is a first step toward their ethical treatment.
- GenresPoetry
292 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 2, 2023
This book is such a treasure. I wish a publisher like Stonebridge would bring out a beautifully-published hardcover edition. I have all the author's books which I love, but this one is particularly special.
A professor of English at Xavier University, he is also the president of the Haiku Society of America. Not sure where he picked up Japanese--but the book is filled with wonderful translations of Issa's haiku. Issa was never on my radar per se, until I started reading Lanoue's excellent books on his life and work. In this one, as I said it is my favorite, he looks at Issa's handling of non-human animals which are not presented as folksy or overly crafted approaches but rather put out a very different understanding of our human relationship with animals--one that transcends the I/It understanding to a more harmonious one. He says, "To borrow the terminology of Israeli philosopher Martin Buber, many people—even nominally Buddhist Japanese—conceive of their dealings with animals as an “I – it” connection: animals are objects to be exploited (raised, hunted, killed, butchered) rather than fellow travelers with their own perspectives, desires, and needs. Issa’s poetry redefines the meaning of animals, replacing objectivity with subjectivity. In this way, he establishes, or, in the long view of the history of homo sapiens, reestablishes with animals what Buber describes as an “I – Thou” relationship: a mutual subjectivity that promises important consequences for humans and animals alike."
It is a wonderful book, one that I highly recommend!
A professor of English at Xavier University, he is also the president of the Haiku Society of America. Not sure where he picked up Japanese--but the book is filled with wonderful translations of Issa's haiku. Issa was never on my radar per se, until I started reading Lanoue's excellent books on his life and work. In this one, as I said it is my favorite, he looks at Issa's handling of non-human animals which are not presented as folksy or overly crafted approaches but rather put out a very different understanding of our human relationship with animals--one that transcends the I/It understanding to a more harmonious one. He says, "To borrow the terminology of Israeli philosopher Martin Buber, many people—even nominally Buddhist Japanese—conceive of their dealings with animals as an “I – it” connection: animals are objects to be exploited (raised, hunted, killed, butchered) rather than fellow travelers with their own perspectives, desires, and needs. Issa’s poetry redefines the meaning of animals, replacing objectivity with subjectivity. In this way, he establishes, or, in the long view of the history of homo sapiens, reestablishes with animals what Buber describes as an “I – Thou” relationship: a mutual subjectivity that promises important consequences for humans and animals alike."
It is a wonderful book, one that I highly recommend!
October 25, 2016
Issa's lovely haikus about animals as explained by David lanoue...wonderful little poems about animals written from a Buddhist perspective.
December 8, 2017
Update: '...Lanoue's Issa's Best: A Translator's Selection of Master Haiku...' is the book I ought to have purchased first. It is the collection I was hoping for with this Issa and the Meaning book.
Picked this up because I wanted a collection of Kobayashi Issa's haiku and was particularly interested in the non-human-animal focus. I found the book via Lanoue's website (http://haikuguy.com/issa/), which contains more translated Issa haiku than I've seen anywhere. Was excited to recieve it. Read the intro and was still excited. However, the format is an interuption for me. One, maybe two haiku a page with paragraphs of interpretation and speculation between. I appreciate the Japanese, the transliteration, and then a translation but not the blocks of text between. The intro situates the intention as introducing English reading adults to the animal awareness in Issa's haiku- I would rather the haiku stand alone with reference symbols to the interpreter notes tucked in the latter half of the book, giving me an option to consult Lanoue instead of having to overlook blocks of text. The book is formatted as a lecture on Issa haiku, not a collection. So I give it three stars, were it set up in a such a way that I could interact with just the haiku I would likely give it four or more. I will keep looking for a collection.
I will try Lanoue's Issa's Best: A Translator's Selection of Master Haiku as it is described on the website as '...presents over 1,200 evocative and inspiring haiku arranged in seasonal order—including an introduction to Issa's life and poetry' - whereas Issa and the Meaning of Animals is listed as '...explores Issa's poetic vision of animals as fellow travelers in a shared world.'
Picked this up because I wanted a collection of Kobayashi Issa's haiku and was particularly interested in the non-human-animal focus. I found the book via Lanoue's website (http://haikuguy.com/issa/), which contains more translated Issa haiku than I've seen anywhere. Was excited to recieve it. Read the intro and was still excited. However, the format is an interuption for me. One, maybe two haiku a page with paragraphs of interpretation and speculation between. I appreciate the Japanese, the transliteration, and then a translation but not the blocks of text between. The intro situates the intention as introducing English reading adults to the animal awareness in Issa's haiku- I would rather the haiku stand alone with reference symbols to the interpreter notes tucked in the latter half of the book, giving me an option to consult Lanoue instead of having to overlook blocks of text. The book is formatted as a lecture on Issa haiku, not a collection. So I give it three stars, were it set up in a such a way that I could interact with just the haiku I would likely give it four or more. I will keep looking for a collection.
I will try Lanoue's Issa's Best: A Translator's Selection of Master Haiku as it is described on the website as '...presents over 1,200 evocative and inspiring haiku arranged in seasonal order—including an introduction to Issa's life and poetry' - whereas Issa and the Meaning of Animals is listed as '...explores Issa's poetic vision of animals as fellow travelers in a shared world.'
September 12, 2017
Humble tortoise journeys slowly to paradise (c) mtbee 2017.04.03.23.53 IMBSTC
Humble tortoise journeys slowly to paradise
(c) mtbee 2017.04.03.23.53
Excellent timely book to move discussions
forward regarding animal rights.
Issa speaks in a unique way
Humble tortoise journeys slowly to paradise
(c) mtbee 2017.04.03.23.53
Excellent timely book to move discussions
forward regarding animal rights.
Issa speaks in a unique way
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews