Haibun

What is a haibun?

• traditional Japanese hybrid form that combines prose with poetry
• originated from Basho
• Westerners who studied Basho, separated his haikus from the prose in the text they originated from because they didn't have yet an idea of hybridity (prose + poem).
• as a whole, the haibun tells a story: it's prose tells the story and the poetry (haiku) depending on where it is placed fulfills different purposes.
• In traditional haibun, the haiku is often placed at the end and holds insight. The prose leads to the insight.
• show example "Snowball"

Basic haiku guidelines

(Use the haiku at the end of "Snowball" as example)

Traditional haiku guidelines

• three lines, 5-7-5
• always about nature
• always alludes to the season using a "kigo" or a season word on the first or third line

But modern haiku breaks these guidelines.

• in Filipino, for example, we have long words so we need more syllables.

Haiku in the haibun

• In the context of a haibun, the haiku is an insight
• It could be placed anywhere in the haibun (beginning, middle, end)
• The most popular placement of the haiku is at the end of the prose. When done this way, the prose that leads to the haiku (which is the insight) describes the circumstances that led to the insight.

Some experiments with haibun

the Beat poets of the 1950s in the US experimented on haibun:

• added multiple haikus in one haibun
• added other kinds of poetry (not just haiku)
• haibun novel: novel with poems and other stuff

"Anino ng Yapak" ni Reuel Molina Aguila

• added indigenous short-form Filipino poems into haibun: tanaga (four lines: 7-7-7-7), diyona (3 lines: 7-7-7), dalit (4 lines: 8-8-8-8; aabb or abab)