ასი უძველესი იაპონური ლექსი ქართულ ენაზე

აბსტრაქტი

სტატიიდან აღებული ავტორის ინგლისურენოვანი რეზიუმე:

Key words: Japanese poetry, Tanka, Zen-Budhism.

In Martin Heidegger’s “Dialogue on Language”, the Japanese interlocutor of the German philosopher remarks: “Since the encounter with the European thinking, there has come to light a certain incapacity in our language ... It is the lack of the power to represent objects related to an unequivocal order above and below each other”. Since the interpretation of the relationship of objects is possible only on the basis of conceptual, abstract thinking, then in “an unequivocal order above and below each other” we must mean the interdependence of the corresponding concepts - their interchangeabil- ity on the basis of similarity, equivalence, which, according to the above view, is inherent in European languages ​and is not inherent in the Japanese language.

Such relationship of concepts, as well as of linguistic signs Roman Jakobson (and before him Ferdinand de Saussure) called the substitution of paradigmatic linguistic units. Accordingly, one can suppose (or one can see how legitimate is the above view) that Japanese language and thinking of the Japanese are mostly characterized by a syn- tagmatic principle, not by substitution, but by the combination of various elements. In this case, it is possible to assume that this principle also underlies Japanese poetry. On the other hand , R.Jakobson’s postulate is of common knowledge that syntagmatic lexical units become equivalent under the influence of poetic function.

Then what is the Japanese poetry from this point of view? How the syntagmatic principle manifests itself in it and what kind of specific features distinguish the poetic function? In order to understand these issues, we have analyzed samples of the oldest genre of Japanese poetry – tanka, the Georgian translations of which are presented in the collec- tion: “ One Hundred Ancient Japanese Poems” The tanka is a small verse genre, which corresponds to the postulate of Zen Bud- dhism, according to which cognition is an instantaneous act. Accordingly, in the Zen Bud- dhism the tanka, like haiku, is considered an adequate form of knowledge (percepton) of the world.

It is significant that in tanka the first and second stanzas, with their more or less independent poetic images, are separated from each other by a pause, that is, an empty semantic space. Thus, it can be concluded that the poetic form of tankas is mainly oriented toward the juxtaposition of various elements (concepts, images), that is, syntagmatic prin- ciple of thinking and language is manifested in it, to which the substitution of objects is alien. Actually, this structure of tanka is always maintained in translations. It is noteworthy that in Zen Buddhism emptiness does not mean nothingness or the absence of matter, but Tao, that creates objects from itself, that is, from emptiness.

And the emptiness in the form of a pause participates and even defines the peculiarity of the poetic form of tanka, as it is potentially fraught with thought that will be expressed in the second stanza. Is it possible to conclude, from the above said, that the syntagmatic principle is basic and that the poetic function (in Jakobson’s sense) – is absent? Presumably, in the original tanka specific features of tanka that are not perceived by a foreign reader in translations should serve a specific poetic function, since for their consciousness is alien, for example, the numerical symbolism of Zen Buddhism, etc. Ob- viously, also, that in translated tanka we should expect the realization of a poetic function in the form that is natural for Georgian (and European) poetry.

Presumably, the specific poetic function in original tanka represents its peculiar- ity which is missed for a foreign reader, for the number simbolics, etc. of Zen-Budhism is alien for his consiousness. In a way, realization of the poetic form which is natural for the Georgian (and European) poetry should also be expected in translations of tanka. Tanka has been translated many times in Georgian, but the most complete idea of ​this genre can be compiled on the basis of the “ One Hundred Oldest Japanese Poems” trans- lated directly from the Japanese language (by Irma Ratiani); The collection includes 100 tanka selected by the Japanese poet and philologist of the 13th century, Sadaiye Fujiwara.

The collection is supplied with a forword by the interpreter which explains the aesthetics of the ancient Japanese poetry. It is interesting that tanka is predominantly translated using a fourteen-syllable verse size (5 4 5). Even in such cases, when tanka is translated using a different size, almost always in one or two lines of the poem this size is used. The fourteen-syllable verse size consists of three segments (5 4 5). This fact is important in the translation of tanka,if we considering the function of the number three in the original tanka. Therefore, it seems quite natural that the translator chose a similar size. Despite the fact that in original tanka there is no rhyme, in translations it occurs quite often.

In this collection, rhyme combines not only the lines of the first or second stanzas (separately), but also the lines of both stanzas. In addition, the translated tanka uses alliteration and silence (aposiopesis). The last step seems to expand the meaning and creates the impression of an additional semantic space that causes the reader to reconstruct the implied (certainly approximate and individual) meaning. We can say that aposiopesis creates an additional “emptiness” that generates meaning and, thus, enriches the content of the tanka. Thus, through aposiopesis, verse size and, in particular, the fact that the first and second stanzas of the tanka are combined with rhymes, the Georgian translations of Japa- nese poetry carry a poetic function in the form in which it is characteristic for Georgian and European poetry, that is, elements of the poetic text become equivalent and their syntagmatic relationships are weakened, which to a certain extent obscures the meaning of tanka.

In this regard, we can recall one more remark of the Japanese interlocutor of Heidegger that “ ... we will let ourselves be led by the wealth of concepts that the spirit of the European languages ​has in store and will look down upon what claims our existence, as on something that is vague and amorphous”. It seems that one of the functions of for- mal methods used in Georgian translations of the tanka is the reflection of the vagueness and amorphousness of life, which is characteristic for the Japanese world view. Finally, by means of the refined tropes and rich vocabulary the whole wealth of feelings are reflected in the translated tanka. And as the notorious researcher of the art of Zen Buddhism, Allan Watts notes: “Where the mood of the moment is solitary and quiet it is called sabi.

When the artist is feeling depressed or sad, and in this peculiar emptiness of feeling catches a glimpse of something rather ordinary and unpretentious in its incredible “suchness”, the mood is called wabi. When the moment evokes a more intense, nostalgic sadness, con- nected with the autumn and the vanishing of the world, it is called aware. And when the vision is, it’s the perception of something mysterious and strange, hinting at an unknown, never to be discovered, the mood is called yugen. These extremely untranslatable Japa- nese words denote the four basic moods of furyu, that is, of the general atmosphere of Zen “taste” in its perception of the aimless moments of life”.

These moods, inherent in the old- est Japanese poetry, are masterfully transmitted in Georgian translations in “One Hundred Ancient Japanese Poems”.

გამოქვეყნებულია ჟურნალში „სჯანი“, ტ. 19 (2018), გვ. 174–185. ნაშრომის გახსნა