Poetry, Physics and Politics

In this paper I plan to talk about haiku poetry (the short Japanese poetic form) and the connection between Western translations and quantum physics, through the work of philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Haiku poetry has variously been translated in the West, though more often than not translations tend to collapse the meaning of a haiku into a single, comprehendable narrative. However, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari point out that Japanese and Chinese poetry make use of what they call a “floating line” which allows for the poem to have multiplicities of meaning, rather than singular narratives (Deleuze and Guattari; 1980). Western translators however usually translate haiku into “either” this meaning “or” that meaning, while the original poem encourages “both” this meaning “and” that meaning to co-exist and multiply. Relating this to physics, classical (Newtonian) physics operates on an “either/or” logic (in which particles are “either” here “or” there, and cannot occupy the same space at the same time) while quantum (Einsteinian) physics operates on a “both/and” logic (in which particles may be superimposed in the same space, and entangled in the same time). As an example, take the following poem by Uejima Onitsura (1661-1738)



a trout leaps high

below him, in the river bottom

clouds flow by

In this translation one sees the clouds reflected in the stream below the trout. However, a more literal translation reveals a “floating line.”



the trout leaps

underneath–

floating clouds



Here the term “underneath” becomes a “floating line” and there is uncertainty as to whether the “floating clouds” are underneath the trout (clouds reflected in the water) or the trout is underneath the “floating clouds” (in the sky). From this we can say the image contains “both” one meaning “and” the other, and construct a third image upon reading which superimposes them both (much like Quantum physics contains superimposed particles). This mode of logic (often called “triadic-logic” rather than “binary logic”) is essential to understanding yin-yang and Buddhist thought as well.

Furthermore, the difference between “either/or” logic and “both/and” logic is fundamental to many disputes between Western and “non-Western” cultures. For instance, in terms of Maori and Pakeha perceptions of the Treaty of Waitangi, I.H. Kawharu writes, “The Maori text predicates a sharing of power and authority in the governance of the country between Crown and Maori. The English text is about a transfer of power.” (Kawharu; 1989) Here we have an illustration of the difference between “both/and” logic and “either/or” logic. Maori believed the treaty to mean that “both” Maori “and” Pakeha would share power, while the Crown believed it would be “either” Maori “or” Pakeha in power. The difference between “both/and” and “either/or” thought is central to any discussion surrounding chaos, complexity and non-Western modes of thought and belief systems.



Bibliography

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus (1980: Continuum, 2004)

Harold G. Henderson, An Introduction to Haiku (Doubleday, 1958)

I.H. Kawharu, Waitangi: Maori and Pakeha Perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi (Oxford University Press, 1989)

-Dick Whyte Bio here-

To see more of Dick Whyte’s work visit these sites:

Wayfarer Gallery (a collection of Wellington Abstract and Experimental Art curated by Dick Whyte and Robyn Kenealy)

Solarts (The Science of Linguistic Aesthetic Research – Comics, Abstract Art, Poetry, Philosophy and Mythology)

To read some of Dick Whyte’s poetry visit the following links:

Tori Tsuki Hana Haiku (Moon, Bird, Flower – haiku poems written in Spring)

Ame no Nikki Tanka (Rain’s Journal – Tanka poems written in Winter)

Animal Crackers (31 haiku about animals written in Summer)

Ten Thousand Plateaus (a short history of Western Philosophy in Haiku form)