Sunjata 5/30/14

     Sunjata is the hero of late thirteenth century epic, a character so inspiring that he became an integral part of the Mande culture in sub-Saharan West Africa. Within that culture, nothing was more important than family, including related traditions like marriage. As in American culture, however, sometimes random actions can result in a lasting tradition, as in the case of the bride-carrying ceremony, as described in Sunjata’s epic.

    The bride-carrying ceremony that is now so ingrained in Mande culture didn’t actually start as a purposeful ceremony. The wife who’s story established the tradition merely had a twisted foot, and she was carried because she couldn’t walk in her condition. From that one, simple action stemmed generations of tradition. It even yielded a song, appropriately entitled the “bride-carrying song” (Subjata 1536) to accompany the tradition. An unfortunate verse was added when the bride’s headscarf fell off and everyone saw that she was bald. From that time forward the bride was known as “heron-head” (1537).

    Of course, the Mande didn’t have the market cornered on wedding traditions with bizarre origins. Every day in modern America women walk down the aisle wearing a veil, unaware that the purpose of the veil is to disguise herself from evil spirits who might be jealous of her happiness. Those pesky evil spirits were also believed to be likely to enter into the bride through her feet, which is where we get the tradition of carrying the bride over the threshold of her new home (Stewart). Heaven forbid an evil spirit should stowaway on the sole of a bride’s foot to gain entrance to her house.

    It’s interesting to take an anthropological look at the behavior of human beings, especially with an emphasis on traditions. It turns out that people all over the world do things everyday because they are adhering to tradition, never imagining that the original reason for the tradition might be ridiculously outdated. That’s certainly the case in the Mande traditions of bride-carrying, but that isn’t any sillier than the myriad traditions surrounding weddings in modern America.
   


                                                                    Works Cited

---. "Sunjata." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Third ed. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton, 2013. 1514-1576. Print.

Stewart, Martha. "11 Wedding Superstitions and Traditions Explained." CNN. Cable News Network, 06 Sept. 2013. Web.

Bashō 5/22/14

When I sat down to view the assigned video about the work of Matsuo Bashō I was in the middle of a very busy work day, taking a moment out to work on the assignments for my summer course. I think the fact that I was thus preoccupied helped me to really notice the impact of the music and the visual arts contained in the video helped me to more fully appreciate the words themselves.

   From the start, I was transported. The slow and simplistic music forced me out of the up-beat and driven way of life that is my work world. I felt my heart rate slow and noticed my entire body starting to ease out of the tension-filled state it tends to be in while I’m working. The visual arts similarly plucked me out of place and time and took me, ever so briefly, somewhere else. The first time through I didn’t even attempt to follow the words, I turned up the volume on my speakers and merely allowed myself to tune out the world and lose myself in this presentation.

    Upon viewing the presentation a second time, I noticed that the first picture was revealing a setting that could have represented the place about which the poet was writing. Subsequent pictures previewed the cherry blossoms that would later be mentioned and also showed images representative of people in the culture from which the poetry came. The reference to a “century past” was enhanced by pictures of a small oriental village that was clearly from an earlier time. The fishing boats, accompanied by pictures of same, came alive in my mind.

    It wasn’t until the third viewing that I realized that the poem is very much talking about the passing of time and the process of aging. The picture of the old man at the beginning might have been a picture of the poet. The young woman wrapping dumplings might have been a reminder of youth, of time long past, perhaps even a young lover long forgotten. Falling leaves, the mention of death, sorrow expressed over the ships sailing away, the end of the “sweet spring night of cherry blossom viewing” ending, the withered branch, the fall of autumn night, all are allusions to the passage of time and aging. The final images of the moon rising over water and a lone tree standing on a high ridge call to mind the onset of night and a possible resting place.

    The poem alone is interesting, but were this a mere reading assignment I would have most likely skimmed it without taking much notice. The addition music and visual artistry, however, forced me into a different state of mind. From that vantage point I experienced and enjoyed the poem in ways I never would have otherwise.

Classic of Poetry 5/15/14

       Poetry is widely regarded as an important part of any society, providing, at the very least, valuable insight into the culture from which it comes. In China, however, poetry was elevated far beyond simple works of artistic expression. As our text notes, “short verse gained a degree of political, social, and pedagogical importance in East Asia that it has hardly enjoyed anywhere else in the world” (Puchner 756). Part of the reason for that elevated importance is that poetry was a useful tool for teaching rhetoric, morals and virtues.

In the poem “Fishhawk,” we find a gentle maiden to be “pure and fair,” and those two adjectives are repeated throughout the poem to illustrate the value of those virtues (Fishhawk 759). Likewise, in the poem “Plums are Falling” we find the speaker to be a young woman who has just come of age and is seeking a husband. “Many men want me,” she repeats over and over, but by virtue she seeks to “be the bride of one” (Plums 760). Clearly one of the key underlying messages in this collection of poetry is the value of virtue.

We also find clear indications of the high moral standards in place throughout the poetry on display in this collection. In “Dead Roe Deer,” for example, we find an allusion to how pure young girls can be led astray and spoiled by despicable men. The deer, which is a metaphor for a young maiden, is said to have a heart “filled with spring” until a “gentleman led her astray” (Deer 761). The color white is often used to describe innocence, and the maiden is surrounded by “white rushes,” which is mentioned twice, emphasizing her purity and innocence. A clear idea of innocence and youth being despoiled by experience and amoral intentions is clearly communicated in what is largely a morality poem.

It might seem strange for a poem to reflect on a rhetorical case in favor of men and women getting together, but that’s just what we find in the poem “Zhen and Wei.” Here a life together is seen as “a place for our pleasure,” and the young couple then goes off together to “frolick” [sic] and “give as gift the peony,” which seems like an allusion to the consummation of their relationship (Zhen 763). The role of poetry as rhetoric is thus on display, even in a case that seems to need little encouragement.

The wide variety of ways in which poetry is utilized in “Classic of Poetry” clearly shows how important it was to contemporary Chinese culture. Whether being used to display moral values, to teach virtuous behavior or to convey rhetoric, poetry was a permeating part of daily life. It went well beyond the mere enjoyment we take from poetry in modern American society, delving into much deeper social status and standing.

Works Cited

“Dead Roe Deer.” Ed. Martin Puchner. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Third ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.

“Fishhawk.” Ed. Martin Puchner. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Third ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.

“Plums are Falling.” Ed. Martin Puchner. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Third ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.

Puchner, Martin. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Third ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.

Somadeva. "From Kathasaritsagara." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Third ed. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton, 2013. 1274-1279. Print.

“Zhen and Wei.” Ed. Martin Puchner. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Third ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.

Somadeva 5/6/14

    In modern American culture it is popular to show women as strong-willed, extremely capable heroines. They don’t answer to men, and might even be called upon to rescue men in distress. This trend, however, represents a very recent shift in thinking, not only in America but also across the globe.  In “Kathasaritsagara,” Somadeva puts on display a world in which women must wear disguises to perform heroic or noteworthy acts.

Siddhikari is the first case in point from Somdeva’s work. The young pupil of a nun passes herself off as a common house servant in order to steal a large fortune from a wealthy merchant. She pulls off the theft, but is seen making her escape. In order to escape detection she tricks her would-be informer into hanging himself. When she is seen doing this, she climbs the tree and ultimately bites the tongue off of her lone pursuer, thus preserving her secret identity (Somadeva 1276). She returns to her mistress and is praised for her ingenuity.

The costumed deceptions continue a bit later in the story, when the mistress attempts to deceive a young woman, Devasmita, into committing adultery. Devasmita foils the plot by dressing up one of her servants as herself to fool the young man who comes to make love to her. The disguise fools the young man and each of his brothers who follow, in turn. In this case, the disguise serves to protect a bond of marriage that is built on faithfulness (1277-78).

Unlike in modern America, women in the time and place which Somadeva depicts act behind the scenes and in disguise to accomplish their goals. Far from being celebrated, they have to be content with their successes without taking credit for them. Sometimes the disguises serve to outsmart men, and other times they serve to strengthen the bond between men and women. In either case, the disguise is central to the successful culmination of the plot.

Work Cited

Somadeva. "From Kathasaritsagara." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Third ed. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton, 2013. 1274-1279. Print.