БАШО ПО ДРУГИ ПУТ МЕЂУ СРБИМА (И ЈУГОСЛОВЕНИМА)

Димитар Анакиев

БАШО ПО ДРУГИ ПУТ МЕЂУ СРБИМА (И ЈУГОСЛОВЕНИМА)
Осврт на две књиге стихова и прозе Мацуо Башоа у преводу Хирошија Јамасаки Вукелића


У Београду, у издању издавачке куће Танеси, појавиле су се две веома вредне књиге хаику поезије и прозе, обе у преводу и са коментарима Хироши Јанмасаки Вукелића. Реч је о књигама Башових хаибуна “Уска стаза ка далеком северу”, која је изашла 2012 и књиге Башових хаикуа “Облак цветова”, изашлој 2016. Могли би смо рећи да су ове две књиге заправо нека врста сабраних дела Мацуо Башоa и као такве су нова фондација, ново утемељење, ново укорењивање Мацуо Башоa у српској и југословенским литературама, овај пут знатно дубље и много прецизније, а такође и много компетентније и песнички убедљивије, него што је то успело славним претходницима. Ове две књиге надмашују на сваки начин све што је до сада било урађено у претстављању хаику поезије и Мацуо Башоа у српској и југословенским литературама. Као такве оне су књиге за песничко узглавље али и раскошни песнички уџбеници, који плене својом целовитошћу и једноставношћу. Усудићу се да кажем да је Хироши додао нашој преводилачкој литератури, поред свог талента и јапански дух темељитости, прецизности и племените једноставности која је углавном туђа нашем поднебљу и карактеру. Имати “Јапанца”, који преводи на српски је велики привилегиј. Вероватно и због тога ове књиге тако снажно искорачују и надвишују своје претходнице а пре свега ненадмашан је њихов поетски квалитет. Показаћемо то на примерима неколико најпознатијих песама:

Прастари рибњак... (5)
једна жаба ускочи: (7)
-звук воде. (3)

(превод: Хорацио Блајт-Владимир Девидé)


Стари рибњак. (4,5)
Жаба скочи у воду: (7)
чује се пљусак. (5)

(превод: Хироши Јамасаки Вукелић)

Не броје се сви слогови једнако! Непотребно је вештачки додавати префикс “пра” да би се добила кованица од пет слогова ако се уочи квалитет слога “а” у речи “стари”, да је то дуг слог који се може бројати за два. Ја сам га, “штоса ради”, рачунао “1,5” па је у укупном збиру слогова првог стиха 4,5 слогова, уствари, песнички речено, јесте пет слогова. Задњи, најважнији стих песме, код Девидéа има само три слога – зашто? Тиме се значајно руши конструкција песме и ефекат задњег стиха смањује. Озбиљан песник себи не сме дозволити такав луксуз. Девидé је тај стил превода видео код Блајта (који и није био песник) а данас је водећи у англосаксонској литератури где се сматра показивањем “зена” то да је стих самосталан и директног дејства. На тај начин се “зен” уздиже на раван метофоре и тумачи као нешто ирационално. А није ли Зен нешто једноставно, да не кажем “логично”? Хироши рационализира задњи стих, чинећи га дескриптивним, уносећи дистанцу, а са њим рационализира и “зен” и то је по мени једино исправно решење, које овде, у односу на досадашњу праксу превођења, делује готово револуционарно, ослобађајуће. То је та једноставност која је потребна хаикуу и зену. Изузетно леп превод, класичне лепоте, који усто обрће на главу западњачко схватање “зена” и показује како треба приступити идеолошким догмама у поезији! И све то тако лако и једноставно, готово “успут”!

На голој грани (5)
шћућурен сједи гавран - (7)
јесењи сумрак. (5)

(превод: Хорацио Блајт -Владимир Девидé)


На голу грану (5)
спустише се црни гавранови. (8)
Јесење вече. (5)

(превод: Хироши Јамасаки Вукелић)


И овде је у првој песми на делу Блајт кога Девидé верно преноси. Види се потпуно неразумевање песничке форме хаикуа. Песма је пародична а форма је класична тј. форма не следи садржини: један у клин, други у плочу! Поново је проблем Блајтово догматско схватање “зена”. Хироши продужава други стих, прво зато што је дужи у оригиналу а друго зато што неправилност форме - коју разбија други стих - служи комичном ефекту. Ето зашто је важно познавати форму и употребљавати њене ефекте. Овде је неправилна форма резултат песничке прецизности а не одраз аљкавости или незнања, како је код нас често случај. Треба уочити и успешно употребљену песничку фигуру “црни гавранови” којом се овај Башов хаику приближава духу нашег фолклорног изражавања.


Као једна породица под истим кровом (12)
спавали смо заједно, (7)
конкубине и ја и шумска детелина и месец. (16)

(превод: Дејан Разић)

Монах и блуднице (6)
под истим кровом: (5)
детелина и месец (7)

(Превод: Отавио Паз-Мирјана Божин)

Под истим кровом (5)
спаваше и блуднице. (7)
Грахор и месец. (5)

(превод: Хироши Јамасаки Вукелић)

Овај хаику узет је из Башовог хаибуна о Кисагати. Хирошијев превод је толико супериоран да је то готово болно. Разићев “хаику” има 35 слогова (4 више од танке) али је због тако огромног раскорака готово симпатичан својом непретенциозношћу и изгледа као нека врста “зен хаику”. Превод Паз-Божин, песнички много амбициознији, показује колико је један слог важан у хаику. Вишак од једног слога у првом стиху није само метрички проблем, проблем ритма кога ухвати наше уво, већ тај слог вишка, као ексер што штрчи у ципели - “убива” - указује и на неадекватну садржину. Проблеми форме никад нису сами за себе, увек говоре и о неподесности садржине. Све то елегантно и једноставно поправља Хироши. И заиста, без Хирошија ми небисмо имали Башоа. А са њим га имамо, таквог какав у оригиналу јесте: јапански а наш!

Хирошијеви преводи Башоа биће пре свега заинтересованом и талентованом читаоцу изузетна поетска литература и путоказ за властиту праксу а онда и префињени уџбеник јапанске културе. Топло саветујем нашим песницима и уредницима да се окану деструктивног утицаја “Мекдоналдс хаикуа” и окрену се уметности писања хаикуа коју нам у целини нуде ове књиге разодевајући хаику форму до танчине а затим и њену културно-историјску позадину.

Књигу “Облак цветова” Хироши посвећује Срби Митровићу са којим је пријатељевао и почињао да преводи хаику на српски. Њих двојица су почела преводе хаикуа као берићетни преводиочки дует. Пошто је и аутор ових редова почетком деведесетих доста времена проводио у Србином стану у Капетан Мишиној, дискутујући хаику, биће ми дозвољено да овај кратки приказ завршим мојим хаикуем из тог времена, који је такође посвећен Срби Митровићу:

Сва обасјана,
на зимској клизавици,
Србина соба.

Димитар Анакиев


У Радовљици, 3.12.2016

DANDELIONS (Haiga)

On the both sides
of the fence the dandelions
grow the same

Haiku by Dimitar Anakiev
Haiga created by Kuniharu Shimizu

MULTICULTURAL FACE OF HAIKU by Dimitar Anakiev

(Ban'ya Natsushi, Jim Kacian, Dimitar Anakiev and Susumu Takiguchi at London-Oxford haiku conference, 2000)



DIMITAR ANAKIEV

MULTICULTURAL FACE OF HAIKU
(A review on Gendai haiku and multiculturalism)

Is multiculturalism possible in haiku or writing haiku means commitment to imitating the traditional Sino-Japanese culture, ie. the culture in which Bashoo, Issa, Buson and partly Shiki are immersed? Before a positive answer to this question, it should be noted that cultural mixing in haiku came long before the creation of the concept of Gendai ("Modern"). Many Japanese poets before Gendai phase were influenced by Western culture, even Shiki himself as the originator of the term "haiku". Shiki's concept of "shasei" ("objective sketch"), a method of writing haiku, which has so far kept its importance, is a result of the influence of Western rationalism on Japanese culture during the Meiji when Japan opened to the West. A rationalism of the West did not only have influenced the haiku. Poets of jiyuritsu style were facing very different Western influences. Thus Santoka was very receptive to social ideas that spread from Russia October Revolution, while Ogiwara Seisensei was under the influence of Goethe and German Romanticism.

However, even before the Meiji period we can not talk about haiku as a monoculture product as something that would be "pure Japanese". Such a senseless argument may be represented only by those who do not know the essence of the culture, the people who are not poets themselves ie. creators of culture. Even the founder of the poetic type of haiku, Matsuo Basho, was heavily influenced by Du Fu and Chinese culture in general. Vladimir Devide also wrote an invalid argument, in several places, that " haiku as a poetic type owes nothing to China". It is generally acknowledged that the pace of 5 and 7 syllables is Chinese and can be found in classical Chinese literature, like quatrains incurred during the Tang and Song (it's about 600 years of poetic and cultural creation). Rhythm of 5 and 7 syllables imitate the rhythms of nature (for example: week has seven days and the numbers 3, 5 and 7 were considered "magical"i.e., arising from nature, and those who wrote poetry with the natural rhythms in their poems wanted to show that they follow the paths of nature ie. they are in harmony with nature.) It was poetic, philosophical and political ideal in classical China and later in Japan, and today it is among many followers of haiku poetry. Haiku is in the West still considered as the poetry of fusion with nature and this is a poetic ideal of classical China that Japan and everyone else took over. Other "typically Japanese" haiku element: "kigo" is also of Chinese origin. Following the seasons is a cultural concept that originated in ancient China, and which was later taken over by Japan. Even the concept of Kyoshi Takahama, which defines the thematic spectrum of haiku like Kachi fúei ( 花鳥 諷 詠, "birds and flowers"), that many in the West swear that is the "typical Japanese" and "the only true haiku" is in fact taken Chinese principle of Buddhist art from the Song period Huā, niǎo, yú, chóng ( 花，鳥，魚，蟲) which means: flowers, birds, fish, insects(1)

As we see haiku is, from the very beginning - cosmopolitan, multicultural, world literature, where also gained different cultures during the further development (2). What is distinctly Japanese is a combination of short and long lines (5-7-5), a dynamic connection that allows"golden ratio", ie. symmetrical asymmetry poetic phrases. What's the significance of the appearance of Gendai haiku if multiculturalism is immanent to haiku as well as to other forms of literature? Let us first consider the term "Gendai" which means "modern". Japanese haiku as a modern art evolved much more in the works of Yamaguchi Seishi, Kato Shuson, Shuoshi, Seiho, and other representatives of school Hototogisu founded by "conservative" samurai son Takahama Kyoshi, Shiki’s student. Modernism which representatives of school Shiki-Kyoshi-Seishi etc. offered fully corresponded with his time and the Western concept of modernity, which primarily involved technical development and rationalism. All these esteemed modern masters wrote the following classic simplicity and clarity, while respecting the kigo techniques and 5-7-5 syllables but have also introduced new, modern themes and called their haiku "haiku new tendencies"(Shinko), a style that was formed in Japan in 1931.

Up to the summer grass
wheels of a locomotive
coming to a stop

Yamaguchi Seishi (1933)

Here is the real work of modern art: a rational objective sketch (shasei), form 5-7-5,kigo (summer grass) and industrial landscape of modernism dominated by locomotive, but poem is stillmoving away from the concept of "flowers and birds" because it speaks about new industrial world that emerge, but must not step into nature and impair it.

I kill an ant
and realize my three children
have been watching.

Kato Shuson, kigo: ant

Juste au moment où le sermon
A finalement sali mes oreilles Le
coucou.

Mizuhara Suoshi, kigo: le coucou (cuckoo)

With these poems of true modernism, which occurred between the two wars, haiku has slightly moved away from its concept of "flowers and birds" in the works of student Takahama Kyoshia, has become much closer to Western humanism and at the same time spoke the language of modern man without having left the concept of "kigo" and a 5-7-5 form. Everywhere present "flowers and birds" are in harmony with Western civilization. But there is also a haiku that did not celebrate "harmony", but criticized it, talked about disharmony. Here's another classic Japanese haiku modernism: Santoka Taneda , a Zen Buddhist monk, known for his informal haiku radical humanism. In this famous antiwar poem about returning soldiers to Japan after the occupation of China, rhythm is irregular, kigo do notexist.

Legs and arms
left in China – you are back
to Japan

Santoka Taneda (1939)

We can see that modernism in Japanese haiku had existed long before Gendai haiku, and that it didn’t call itself "modern" but "nouvelle haiku" and "haiku with new directions, new tendencies,"Shinko". On the other hand, when it appeared after the Second World War, Gendai haiku is called "modern" although really it was not. Tohta Kaneko, the founder, embraced the irrationalism and hermetic speech on the basis of its "modernity". Essentially Gendai corresponded to the postwar directions in European literature such as Dadaism and Surrealism, when the poet is unable to accept the reality that was marked by war and destruction. This is the essence of Gendai: rejection of reality and escape into fantasy and mystification. In postwar Japan, the problems were not only material destruction and war victims but also the complete defeat of a cultural tradition in whose name the war was fought and the arrival of a new culture of American capitalism, which has taken a dominant position. An appropriate philosophical and poetic equivalent for a new era should be found. Talent and longevity Tohta Kaneko enabled Gendai to overcome a mere revolt and an escape from the world through time, to create and expand and become an alternative to the mainstream of Japanese haiku that was deeply anchored in (defeated) tradition.

WHAT IS REALLY NEW IN GENDAI?

First of all Gendai left the concept of harmony with the nature and declared the chaos of its principle. God is harmony, but chaos is the devil, and they have chosen for themselves the role of the devil in the Japanese literature. If the classic haiku propagated the unity of words and deeds, Tohta Kaneko (bank employee!) spread the freedom of imagination and creation of new worlds. If Buddhism propagated birds, flowers and insects as the main themes suggesting thereby rejecting violence (so Basho was writing about wild violets on a mountain trail) Tohta Kaneko began to write demons: bloodthirsty beasts have become a constant of his haiku. If the classic haiku was based in the METAPHOR, Gendai has expanded to ALLEGHORY as the basis of his term. Buddhist simplicity and clarity has been replaced by a vague emotional vigor.

Japanese plum bloom my lake:
blue sharks swim everywhere tiger’s shadow next to it
through the garden so black

Tohta Kaneko

Rejecting Buddhism Totha Kaneko and generations of his followers declared the original Japanese pagan religion (animism, Shintoism) for the basis of their haiku (maybe haiku in general). Gendai poets rejected "kigo" as a side effect (Chinese), and when it is used, it loses its primary sense of harmony with nature. A similar attitude is towards the 5-7-5 form which is rejected "in principle", even when it exists in their poems (99% of Japanese haiku is composed in 17 syllables). Obviously it is a poetic program that does not need to have its source in poetic practice.

If we exclude the poetic highlights, such as Tohta Kaneko, and talk about the importance of Gendai then certainly we have to see further democratization lines of haiku, as the de facto programmatic multiculturalism in haiku. Although multiculturalism exists in haiku all the time, different cultural influences are still staying attached to the Buddhist worldview, as if haiku outside of Buddhism can not exist. Gendai has shown that haiku can exist without Buddhism. The door of real ideological differences in haiku poetry have been opened and that means that haiku can exist independently from Japanese culture. Gendai is perhaps cosmopolitan real chance of haiku.

Today's Gendai’s Association prints in their anthologies even Shinko’s authors (authors of the New Tendencies) as if they belong to Gendai school even though it is not historically accurate, but it is incorrect programmatically too (Santoka was a Buddhist monk, and Ozaki Hosai etc.). Obviously, to increase the importance of Gendai, many "details" are becoming irrelevant, so today any deviation from the Chinese tradition in the history of haiku is immediately declared as a Gendai (3). In this way, Gendai seems like a bigger movement than the de facto is (4). Sino-US strategic and economic rivalry helps to fabrication of historical facts so any deviation from the Chinese tradition immediately promotes in "pro-American" Gendai.

And this confusion is certainly aided by the fact that American haiku poets, traditionally Buddhists, are today torned between patriotism and Buddhism. However, ideological pluralism of haiku is a significant achievement, which will always give meaning to Gendai direction irrespective of the political (mis) use.

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird-and-flower_painting
2. Dimitar Anakiev: „What Are the Values of an International Haiku Community“, Modern Haiku 43. 2, 2012
3. Gendai Haiku Association „Japanese haiku 2001“
4. Gendai Haiku Association „Japanese haiku 2008“

(This article is for the first time published in English and Serbian in Haiku Novine Vol.22, No.30, spring-summer, 2016)

CROCUSES TALK

All these crocuses
speak about the ground Soviet
constitution of 1918

- - Dimitar Anakiev

FORSYTHIA BUD

Cvet forzicije
tako dražesan, budi
i mrtve oči


Forsythia bud
so adorable, awakes
even the dead eyes

Dimitar Anakiev

FLOOD

U postelji od
lanjske trave beli sneg
gleda bujicu


In the bed of
last year´s grass white snow
watches the flood
Dimitar Anakiev

OLD POND, NEW HAIKU by Dimitar Anakiev

Stari ribnjak:
prazna flaša uskoči -
zvuk vina

An old pond:
empty bottle jumps in -
sound of wine

Dimitar Anakiev

ENCOURAGING VOICE OF THE FUTURE, 50 haiku by Manu Kant

ENCOURAGING VOICE OF THE FUTURE, 50 haiku by Manu Kant
DIMITAR ANAKIEV•TUESDAY, 5 JANUARY 2016


In the world of cosmopolitan haiku poetry, many people write haiku in one way or another having actually nothing to say; other haiku poets, again, only pretend to speak through the form of haiku poetry but this is not the case with Manu Kant, a haiku poet from Chandigarh, India. He has plenty of things to say to the world, to humanity, to people, to himself and he is able to speak colorfully by using different styles of composing haiku poems. His poetic expression by its powerfulness can be compared with haiku poetry of Richard Wright or James Kirkup in the West and Kobayashi Issa and Santoka Taneda in the East. At the same time, he is one of the most talented poets in the present day world of haiku poetry and the most socially engaged poet. His poetry is personal and fresh, full of fascinating ideas linking the most paradoxical worlds. He is radically human as a poet must be. We can say he is a new, contemporary „jiyuritsu“ poet, or even left-wing Gendai, but before all he is unique Indian haiku poet who brings completely new dimension to haiku, perhaps more original of original.

O road workers!
come hither, please
& show me thy fate line

In a very personal, subjective manner, like talking to a second person (that is why „easyness“ and spontaneity) this haiku is actually a very deep juxtaposition, comparing dialectical aspect „road worker“ with metaphysical „fate line“. A dramatic and very poetic confrontation of dialectic (materialistic) and metaphysical (idealistic) aspect of philosophy and the world. This poem is a masterpiece, a work of poetic genius. One of my favorite in this collection! At the same time, indirectly but not less strong, the poem is very engaged, full of real emotion of sympathy. As it says: „a worker has no fate line; his hand has only calluses. That means „No idealism for the working class. Only fight for the life....“ So „easy“ and a soft poem but actually very hard and tight. This is another juxtaposition, another contrast, formal one: a lightness of form (a manner of expression) confronts hardness of meaning. We can see the complexity of poem and virtuosity where form of expression strictly follows the meaning even without using the most important word, probably the real topic: „calluses“ (haiku is an art of omission!) .

during a break
the coffee house cook
picking his teeth

Contrary to the subjective style of the first poem, this poem is written as „shasei“ (an objective sketch from life) - a favourite technique of Masaka Shiki. Around „shasei“ is written the whole strategy of Hototogisu Haiku School, which later became the school of classical haiku led by Takahama Kyoshi. The „shasei“ seems pretty banal and unimportant but actually it is a doctrinaire poem. It shows what to watch in our life. As Matsuo Basho said in his famous doctrinaire poem „watch mountain violet by the road“, Manu Kant says: „watch cook picking his teeth“. It wants to say: „Do not watch only what people want to show, watch behind, watch hidden, watch what is not usually seen... watch ugly things... not only beautiful.“ From an aesthetic point of view this poem can also be understood as a manifesto of expressionism; of seeking beauty in ugliness....“



the laughing Buddha
tell me
what was so funny about your times?

It seems only as a parody but this poems brings an historic dimension to the „Buddha laugh“. Western parvenu „Zen masters“ like to imitate „Zen school“ in haiku but Indian poet, a poet from the country of origin of Buddhism, adds real „Zen“ viewpoint to the topic (if we understand that „Zen view“ means watching things with „new eyes“). So, without imitating „Zen“ – what is an „anti-Zen“ attitude - Manu Kant shows a real „a fresh viewpoint“ of laughing Buddha, bringing the historic aspect. This is really Zen. Zen monk Santoka was a known socialist by his political views and a very engaged poet. He was detained many times on his poetic wonderings and accused of espionage on behalf of the USSR by the Japanese fascist regime. Being „Zen“ does not mean being „apolitical“. Quite contrary. The Buddhist monk Saigyō Hōshi, the famous tanka poet who was a role model to Basho, openly wrote about political problems of his time. Zen monk Santoka wrote a real anti-war poem during the Japanese 1939 invasion of China:

Legs and arms
left in China - you are
back to Japan
Santoka (1940)

And really: what was so funny in Buddha’s times? For the first time we see haiku as a tool of historical analysis. Impressive, something we did not know haiku can do. In the poetry of Hoshinaga Fumio, we see haiku as a tool of historical reconstruction; haiku as a tool of historical revival of Kuma tribe. In the poetry of Manu Kant we also see haiku as a tool of historical analysis.


class reunion
from which victorious battles
are you back?
which just wars have you waged?

This is another haiku pointing towards an historical analysis. „Class reunion“ is another name for the ideology and the politics of „nationalism“. The phraseology of workers’ movement considers „class reunion“ as politics of „social dialogue“, „workers peace“ policy and „class collaboration“. It is an old capitalist strategy. “We had „class reunion“ also during the different regimes of Stalinism when it was known under the name of „Popular Front“ (Narodni Front) opposed to “’class Front”. Popular Front was invented to stop the revolution and to start building a nation. This poem of Manu Kant is a frank step towards historical analysis. It questions the politics of nationalism. Manu Kant asks big questions through his poetry as all big poets did – like Basho, like Santoka, like Issa Kobayashi, like Saigyo.


late night hour
still the measured steps
of a waiter

Very precise „shasei“ (an objective sketch from the reality) pointing how a profession marks the personal life. A job forms the worker. Measured steps are like measured drinks waiters have every day. Measuring is his life. The same idea as Manu Kant has expressed we also find in Issa Kobayashi’s well-known poem:

The man pulling radishes
pointed my way
with a radish.
(Translated by Robert Hass )

Issa like Manu Kant was a great humanist and a very expressive poet. The farmer is marked with his job just like a waiter. He can point the way only with a radish. It is his life.


looking closely
the toilers - almost human
yet the work they do!

The public manner of writing („looking closely“) that was used by Basho with an idea to educate readers is here also used by Manu Kant. He too wants to educate people; he wants to point their attention towards topics he thinks people must know and must consider. In this case it is „ä worker’s life“ - is worker a human? Almost!


begging at the top of his voice
aah!
the freedom of speech
so cherished by the petty bourgeois

This is contemporary political haiku with a very popular main stream question: „freedom of speech“. What does it mean for a beggar? What is the meaning of it to the poor and the oppressed? Yes, it is only a bourgeois „sport“. The famous Spanish film director Louis Buñuel got an Oscar award for his 1972 film The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
In this haiku of Manu Kant we have a similar idea.

the massive jugs
of a pavement vendor woman
yes, yes, I would love to be her baby!

I like this poem for its open and naive eroticism but also because it has a hidden social meaning behind it. Eroticism is used here as a tool for placing social ideas in a way that will be broadly accepted and understood.

summer drought
the whole world
bonsai

Here we have a surprising juxtaposition „summer drought“ and „bonsai“ in an ascetic, thick expression.
Summer drought is compared with the art of bonsai. It wants to say that climate changes are also a human art. An ecological poem with a brilliant association.

you swear by your Santa
I have seen kid rag pickers
giving our world a second chance

This is a poem with probably the biggest dimension, biggest volume in the book. And I believe it is one of the biggest poems in general. A poem-mountain. It has almost a dimension of a movie. It has spectacular manner of a movie. It criticises, giving spectacular juxtaposition of two contrasted symbols „Santa“ and „kid rag pickers“ but it also gives a hope for this „world of ours“ inhabited with Santas & kid rag pickers. It is really a beautiful poem which shows the warm human face of social criticism and engaged poetry.

In this short analysis I have pointed only some of the interesting aspects that probably are not easy to understand to the reader accustomed to stereotypical interpretation of haiku poetry. There are many other and different aspects in poetry of Manu Kant too: anthropological, ethnic, personal... A great poetry coming from a great poet of a great nation. This collection shows that humanity will have a second chance if it is seen from the perspective of so-called „the third world“. It seems that worlds „No.1 and No. 2“ have nothing more important to say as well as effete „postmodern“ aesthetics. They are already the past. In that way poetry of Manu Kant can be seen as an encouraging voice of the future.

Dimitar Anakiev, Jelšane, 04-05 January 2016