You are on page 1of 72

Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Volume 3, Number 4, April 2013 (Serial Number 17)

Da vid Publishing

David Publishing Company www.davidpublishing.com

Publication Information: Journal of Literature and Art Studies is published monthly in hard copy (ISSN 2159-5836) and online (ISSN 2159-5844) by David Publishing Company located at 9460 Telstar Ave Suite 5, EL Monte, CA 91731, USA. Aims and Scope: Journal of Literature and Art Studies, a monthly professional academic journal, covers all sorts of researches on literature studies, art theory, appreciation of arts, culture and history of arts and other latest findings and achievements from experts and scholars all over the world. Editorial Board Members: Eric J. Abbey, Oakland Community College, USA Andrea Greenbaum, Barry University, USA Punam Madhok, East Carolina University, USA Carolina Conte, Jacksonville University, USA H. S. Komalesha, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India Mary Harden, Western Oregon University, USA Lisa Socrates, University of London, United Kingdom Herman Jiesamfoek, City University of New York, USA Maria OConnell, Texas Tech University, USA Manuscripts and correspondence are invited for publication. You can submit your papers via Web Submission, or E-mail to literature.art@davidpublishing.org, art.literature@yahoo.com. Submission guidelines and Web Submission system are available at http://www.davidpublishing.org, www.davidpublishing.com. Editorial Office: 9460 Telstar Ave Suite 5, EL Monte, CA 91731 Tel: 1-323-984-7526, 323-410-1082 Fax: 1-323-984-7374, 323-908-0457 E-mail: literature.art@davidpublishing.org, art.literature@yahoo.com Copyright2013 by David Publishing Company and individual contributors. All rights reserved. David Publishing Company holds the exclusive copyright of all the contents of this journal. In accordance with the international convention, no part of this journal may be reproduced or transmitted by any media or publishing organs (including various websites) without the written permission of the copyright holder. Otherwise, any conduct would be considered as the violation of the copyright. The contents of this journal are available for any citation, however, all the citations should be clearly indicated with the title of this journal, serial number and the name of the author. Abstracted/Indexed in: Database of EBSCO, Massachusetts, USA Chinese Database of CEPS, Airiti Inc. & OCLC Chinese Scientific Journals Database, VIP Corporation, Chongqing, P.R.C. Ulrichs Periodicals Directory LLBA Database of ProQuest Summon Serials Solutions Subscription Information: Price (per year): Print $420 Online $300 Print and Online $560 David Publishing Company 9460 Telstar Ave Suite 5, EL Monte, CA 91731 Tel: 1-323-984-7526, 323-410-1082. Fax: 1-323-984-7374, 323-908-0457 E-mail: order@davidpublishing.com

D
DA VID PUBLISHING

David Publishing Company www.davidpublishing.com

Journal of Literature and Art Studies


Volume 3, Number 4, April 2013 (Serial Number 17)

Contents
Literature Studies
Perspectives on Poverty in Some Medieval French Literary Works Glynnis M. Cropp A Study on Imitating Activities of Hanshan Poems by Chan Buddhist Monks in SONG Dynasty HUANG Jing-Jia The Major Western Cultural Influences on the Incubating Process of Ezra Pounds Early Poetics WEI Shu Death of a Salesman, When Tragedy Meets the Modern Man Marsela Turku 224 213 204 197

Art Studies
The Kingdom of Lettering: The Films Titles in the Early Years of Turkish Cinema Nazl Eda Noyan DesignTowards a Creative Industry for the Latin American Reality Alejandra Elena Marinaro, Romina Alicia Flores 242 230

Special Research
Possessions Ceded for the Benefit of the Hospitals and Churches From the Sighisoara County 255 Mariana Borcoman

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 April 2013, Vol. 3, No. 4, 197-203

DA VID

PUBLISHING

Perspectives on Poverty in Some Medieval French Literary Works


Glynnis M. Cropp
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

In the sense of destitution, human wretchedness, and powerlessness, poverty is a permanent feature of medieval society, inescapable for many men and women. Some virtuous, self-denying people voluntarily chose a life of poverty, usually with a sense of advancing in Christian spirituality. Often associated in moral writing with covetousness, poverty figures among the vices to avoid. In literary works, some instances of poverty and its victims have acquired exemplary value, as is the case of Yvains encounter with three hundred women silk workers in Chrtien de Troyess 12th-century romance Le Chevalier au lion and its socio-economic implications. Two particular literary contexts are studied here: firstly, where poverty is a temporary condition, susceptible to change, that is improvement, by virtue of courtly-chivalrous action; and secondly, where poverty provides an effective means of disguise, despite possible dangers. While serving the narrative purpose, an ever-present aspect of reality was thus impressed on the audience. Keywords: disguise, medieval French romance, poverty, treatment of the poor

Introduction
In the sense of destitution, human wretchedness, and powerlessness, poverty is a permanent feature of medieval society, inescapable for many men and women. It derives from inability to work and gain a livelihood, to keep oneself adequately clothed, fed, and housed, for decent, modest survival. Men and women suffer poverty, which exists in different degrees, with several thresholds, relative to social status, physical condition, and time and place. Historians have shown that from the early 13th century in France, the number and variety of poor people increased significantly. Famine was widespread in Europe between 1315 and 1317 (Lucas, 1930, pp. 376-377). Various contemporary writings, such as sermons, attest the situation, and contain images of paupers, dressed in rags, without shelter, money or food, some with physical disabilities, as the medieval mind tended to equate the sick and the poor, and begging on the street, at church and castle entrancesa stereotyped portrayal, perhaps, intended to move the faithful to acts of charity (Mollat, 1986, pp. 129-156), and often illustrated in books of hours (Guest, 1995, pp. 154-156, 161). In the 14th century, on the one hand, Jean le Bons ordonnances of 1351 and 1354 aimed to reduce vagrancy and to get all able-bodied people hired to work (Geremek, 1987, pp. 29-43). On the other hand, especially later in the century, crowds of paupers protested aggressively and violently, angered by the sight of the wealth of the
Glynnis M. Cropp, professor emeritus, School of Humanities, Massey University.

198

PERSPECTIVES ON POVERTY IN SOME MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERARY WORKS

nobility and powerful, and the inequitable distribution of goods. The real causes varied: disability, famine or war, depopulation and abandonment of a small village, excessive fiscal demands, and so on, all of which show the precariousness of survival and the social weakness of people without means and without the power to ward off poverty (Geremek, 1987, pp. 67-82; Geremek, 1994, pp. 169-184). In the Roman de la Rose, Guillaume de Lorris (1966, pp. 14-15) created the classic medieval allegorisation of Pauvret (poverty). On the wall of the garden are depicted forbidding personages who impede progress. The last of the series is Pauvret: penniless, poorly dressed with an old sack as her outer garment, cold and trembling, she cowers in a corner because a poor person is always shameful and contemptible; the poor are destined never to be well fed, dressed, or shod, nor to be loved and esteemed (vv. 439-460). Christine de Pizan borrowed some of these traits in her depiction of Pauvret in Le Livre de la Mutacion de Fortune (1959, pp. xiv-xviii, vv. 2561-2780). In his part of the Roman de la Rose, Jean de Meun (1970, pp. 56-57) stated in a discourse on poverty, the principle, probably derived from Senecas thoughts on frugality and often attested in medieval moral writing, that poverty is generated by covetousness: car soffisance fet richece/et couvoitise fet povrece./Soit rais, ou nait vaillant .ii. chiches/qui plus couvoite mains est riches (for sufficiency creates richness and covetousness creates poverty. Whether one is a king or has nothing of value, the more one covets, the less rich one is, vv. 18535-18538). Chaucers (1951) Wife of Bath echoes this thought: But truly poor are they who whine and fret/And covet what they cannot hope to get./And he that having nothing covets not/Is rich, though you may think he is a sot (p. 314). Besides those in extreme poverty, many other people, who eke out a meagre existence, plying a trade or skill, with a roof over their heads, are described as poor. For example, the poor old widow in Chaucers Nuns Priests Tale, who lives in a cottage near a meadow, has three sows, three cows, a sheep called Molly, a rooster, and seven hens. With a meagre diet, she works hard (Chaucer, 1951, pp. 238-239). This is respectable poverty, such as the Wife of Bath defends, citing the authority of Seneca and Juvenal: Though it be hateful, poverty is good,/A great incentive to a livelihood (Chaucer, 1951, p. 314). In addition to the widespread occurrence of this involuntary poverty, some virtuous, self-denying people voluntarily chose a life of poverty, usually with a sense of thus advancing in Christian spirituality and practising the virtues of patience and humility. The mendicant orders, the Franciscans and Dominicans, spread their teaching and example of evangelical poverty, and their exaltation of the spiritual value of poverty, when real poverty was increasing. Relief of poverty was a Christian duty, incumbent on all, even on the poor, as is well exemplified in a fabliau Le Vilain qui conquist paradis par plait (The Peasant who conquered paradise by pleading; de Montaiglon & Raynaud, 1878, pp. 209-214; Lorcin, 1979, pp. 149-150). The saints try and refuse a poor peasant entry to paradise, but eventually allow him to put his case to God: He has fed, clothed, and lodged the poor, cared for them until they died when he arranged their funerals, and thus he carried out his obligations as a good Christian; so, he pleads, in accordance with Christian teaching, he deserves to enter paradise. God recognises he has made a valid case and admits him.

Examples of Involuntary Poverty in Courtly Literature


In the literary world of courtliness and chivalry, involuntary poverty is depicted as temporary and susceptible to relief by virtue of courtly-chivalrous action. In the following three examples, it affects a lesser

PERSPECTIVES ON POVERTY IN SOME MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERARY WORKS

199

noble, a vavasseur, who holds a sub-fief from an overlord, women workers, and a knight without dependence on a lord. Goodness and beauty underlie the visible poverty of these characters. In Chrtien de Troyess romance Erec et Enide, Enide is the daughter of an elderly, handsome vavasseur, who explains to Erec that his poverty results from war and loss of land (de Troyes, 1966, vv. 510-511). The signs of poverty are that the household has only one servant (vv. 485-491), Enide and her mother are engaged in some kind of handwork, and Enide wears old, worn clothing, at variance with her amazing natural beauty and intrinsic nobility. When Erec has proved his valour, the vavasseur consents to his marriage with Enide. Still very poorly dressed, she arrives with Erec at king Arthurs court where queen Guinevere carries out a rags-to-riches transformation, enhancing Enides natural, noble beauty (vv. 1532-1661). Erec fulfils his promise to her parents, sending them fine clothes, gold, and silver, and handing over to the vavasseur two castles in his fathers kingdom (vv. 1797-1864). Thus their poverty is exchanged for material wealth, improved status, and power, as is evinced later at the coronation of Erec and Enide (vv. 6513-6517, 6540-6580), when Enides parents rank among the nobility. Erecs prowess and generosity removed poverty. In Chrtien de Troyess romance Le Chevalier au lion, Yvains encounter with three hundred captive women silk workers (de Troyes, 1952, pp. 142-146, vv. 5185-5346), contrasted immediately with a quintessential scene of noble courtly life (de Troyes, 1952, pp. 146-149, vv. 5347-5456), has acquired exemplary value in the history of medieval poverty for its socio-economic connotations. At the chteau de Pesme Avanture, in an enclosure, the young women work all day making silk and gold cloth. Their abject poverty and servitude are visible: (1) They are bareheaded, without girdles; (2) Their clothes are torn and dirty; (3) Their necks are thin and their faces pale from hunger; and (4) They weep as they work and are afraid at night to rest from fear of torment. Yvain quickly realises that in a more pleasant setting they would appear beautiful. Their spokesperson explains the history of their captivity by the two demons who hold the castle, and the low rate of weekly payment they receive for their work, one 60th of their total earnings, insufficient to feed and clothe themselves decently (vv. 5188-5337). Chrtien might have glimpsed exploitation of this kind, it has been suggested (Frappier, 1968, p. 156). By overcoming in combat the two devils, sons of a monster, Yvain frees the women, who return to their own land. His victory over evil liberates the intrinsically noble and beautiful young ladies from the bondage of shame and disgraceful poverty (vv. 5771-5809). In the anonymous Breton lai of Graelent (Tobin, 1976, pp. 83-125), an angry queen maligns a knight, who has refused to be her lover on the grounds that his loyalty is to his lord, the king. She demands that the king cease payment and other support of the knight. He is therefore povre (poor, v. 151) and powerless to escape his marginality. A young townswoman gives him some equipment, including an old leather cloak, which makes people laugh at him (vv. 153-198). He rides on a nondescript horse into the forest, sees a beautiful young lady bathing with her two maids. He grabs her clothes. After declaring that he is not a second-hand dealer, he hands over her chemise (undertunic) so that she can decently come out of the water. They become amis (friends). She gives the knight money, clothes, gold, and silver, on condition that he never reveals she is his beloved. He rewards those who helped him when he was poor and successfully pursues his career. Eventually, they cross the river into the Celtic other world. In this case, firstly the sympathy and generosity of a townswoman and then the mysterious and magic powers of the fe (nymph) eliminate poverty imposed as unjustified punishment for honesty and loyalty.

200

PERSPECTIVES ON POVERTY IN SOME MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERARY WORKS In these examples, involuntary poverty is described in material terms (clothes, equipment, and household);

only the women captives suffer physically. Seigneurial largesse, knightly prowess, human compassion, and the mysterious Celtic supernatural are the means by which poverty is overcome. Christian charity and almsgiving are not mentioned here.

Poverty as Disguise
In two later romances, a kind of voluntary poverty, deliberately assumed for a short time, and superficial, is a narrative means, propelling the story. Disguise, or mask, is a familiar literary device for secret messages, spying, and gaining entry. The first of these romances, LHistoire du Chastelain de Coucy et de la Dame de Fayel (Jakemes, 1976), has six disguise episodes, four of which consist of disguise as a pauper. In one episode, a servant, dresses as a beggar waits at the castle gate for the regular distribution of food to the poor, then conveys the Chastelains message to the Dame de Fayel, arranging a secret rendez-vous (vv. 2940-3186). In the second, another young man in disguise, employed by a rival lady, watches and follows the Chastelain to the Dame de Fayels house. Mingling with the poor, a messenger and a spy complete their assignments, unidentified (vv. 3978-4072). Twice the Chastelain adopts the disguise in order to enter the Dame de Fayels house. In the first incident, at the ladys suggestion, he is kitted out as a poor pedlar with a basket-tray, heavy footwear, a thick smock, an old torn hat and a little iron rod to support his tray. His face is stained black, so that he is unrecognisable. After a night of pleasure, the Chastelain resumes his disguise and goes on his way (vv. 6520-6849). In the second incident, disguised as a blind man, he is led into the castle by the Dame de Fayels maid, who insists ce povre aveugle (this poor blindman) must be given bread. His clothes are torn, he carries a stick, and is unrecognisable (vv. 7182-7234). All these ruses are part of an illicit love affair. There is no unmasking of the person disguised. In the first two instances, the disguise is simply expressed as comme paillars (v. 2964), or en habit de paillart (v. 3979), dressed as a beggar, as a vagabond, enabling a servant to merge into an anonymous crowd. The Chastelains disguises are described in detail. He evinces no sense of demeaning himself. The love he shares with his lady and the need for secrecy, even when her husband is absent, justify the stratagems. In the second romance, the Roman du comte dAnjou, completed in 1316 by Jehan Maillart (1931, pp. iv-vi), the disguise of poverty binds the narrative. Three series of disguises, altogether nine episodes, expose different aspects of poverty and charity. The first two series concern the daughter of the Count of Anjou who escapes into the forest with a lady companion, to evade the shameful designs of her father; the third series concerns the Count of Bourges, who has married the Count of Anjous daughter, lost her and their infant son, and is searching for them. Two women and a man, all unmistakeably noble and good-looking, adopt the disguise. They encounter other poor people, thus revealing different degrees of poverty and different attitudes to the poor. The poverty assumed by the Counts daughter and her companion is relative to their aristocratic lifestyle. They escape into the forest at night, each carrying a casket of jewels, gold and silver, to avoid, it is stated, unaccustomed poverty (vv. 647-653); they wear cloaks over short garments as they will be walking through forest. Despite prayers for Gods protection of nostre povre vie (our poor life, v. 1018), fear and hunger soon drive them to emerge and look for a town.

PERSPECTIVES ON POVERTY IN SOME MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERARY WORKS

201

In the first encounter, they receive help from a bone fame (v. 1070), a preude fame (v. 1081), a good woman, a worthy woman, who is poor, but has a house. She offers them coarse, stale, and black bread, which brings to the noble ladys mind a long list of the good things she ate in her fathers house, and she weeps. In the second, a poor widow, another preudefame (v. 1213), who has a house, offers more varied food: vegetable soup, eggs, black bread, and water, and provides scant modest bedding such as she has, and security. So, they stay, acquire equipment, and set about silk-making, to gain an honest living. Like the woman of the first episode, this preudefame perceives from the appearance and manners of the fugitives that they are of noble origin, and not truly poor. In other words, their disguise is faulted. And when some young men glimpse the beautiful lady and begin to pester her, they are obliged to move on (vv. 1698-1832). The povres fames esgareez (poor wandering women, v. 1911), next encounter in the forest near Lorris a Chastelain, who directs them to his house, and continues on his way. His wife receives them angrily, misconstruing her husbands intentions and the young ladys beauty, envisaging the house becoming a brothel and her husband being unfaithful. On his return, he cannot placate her, so sends the two women to lodge in town with another good woman who offers much the same hospitality as they received in the previous two episodes, although supplemented by the Chastelains gifts of food and wine. Their manners, work, and religious devotion make a good impression, as the Chastelaine hears, and they are invited to live at the castle at no expense, to teach the daughters their skills, enjoying a better lifestyle than in town en un povre hostel (in poor lodgings, v. 2275). In this first series, successively three kind women help the fugitives according to their means. The Chastelaine, however, initially rejects the fugitives, not perceiving beauty and nobility under the veneer of poverty. By their industry they show how poverty can be reduced. The ladys extraordinary beauty determines the turning point of the story. To be very brief, with her origins still unknown, she marries the Count of Bourges. While he is away at war, their son is born. Following treacherous interception and falsification of letters, the Count seems to have instructed that his wife and child be put to death. The servants charged with the task conspire to save them. The Countess is to remain outside the Counts lands, mendiant et querant sa vie (begging and seeking her livelihood, v. 4325), fame banie (a banished woman, v. 4376). With a little money from the servants, she leaves for Etampes, where she can stay at the Ostel-Dieu for a fortnight, as she has recently given birth. Monastic hospitals served the poor and sick (Guest, 1995, pp. 169-171). At Etampes, the Mayoress of the town takes the Countess and her infant home to wash, eat, and rest. Her husband, the Mayor, is angry about the expense entailed, so that the essiliee, the banished woman, must leave, but with gifts from the Mayoress of a fur garment and some of her money, and advice to go to Orlans for the bishops distribution of food to the poor, an event held three times weekly, for the soul of the bishops brother. The irony is not lost on the Countess that the bishops brother was the Count of Anjou, her father now deceased (vv. 4560-4574). At Orlans she lodges with a trustworthy woman, une fame ouvriere/de laine (a woman wool worker, vv. 4592-4593), a spinner and weaver, who provides basic bedding, all she has. At the food distributions, the Countess stands among the poor, hiding her face to conceal her beauty. One day the Almoner questions her, sees her beautiful face, and is moved to pity. He directs her to the Ostel-Dieu, the

202

PERSPECTIVES ON POVERTY IN SOME MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERARY WORKS

infirmary, where she reveals to the Superior her suffering since her confinement, but not her origins and past. She is promised a fortnights care. In this second series of encounters, the Mayoress of a town, a poor working woman, the Almoner, and the Superior of a religious institution all help the destitute woman and infant. The mediation of the Church, in regular food distribution and in charitable care, is important. The only justification for a bishop to accumulate wealth was to give to the poor and needy. Meanwhile, back from war, the Count of Bourges has discovered the horrendous wrong done to the Countess and his son. He sets out alone, in bondsmans clothes, sandals, a hooded cloak, and carrying a staff (v. 5298), he will look for his wife and child among the poor and beg for food, as though he is a mendicant penitent, actively seeking alms. He walks towards Etampes, scratched by rocks and thorns. He meets a hideous, uncouth peasant who curses him, then a priest who gives him some black bread. He sleeps outdoors; he wards off dogs that always dislike the poor, it is said; he weeps and sighs. He receives curses from some, and compassion from others (vv. 5470-5616). Then the Mayoress appears. Moved by his tears and rags, she questions him, he confides in her and, of course, she directs him towards Orlans. He goes on his way, footsore and complaining about the wind and cold. He reaches Orlans in time for the food distribution, which is described with more detail: 16 thousand poor (a grossly inflated number, even in medieval counting for the total population of the town probably numbered fewer than 20,000) form a crowd controlled by more than thirty guards with rods and truncheons. Mass distributions of this kind are attested (Geremek, 1987, p. 189; Geremek, 1994, pp. 40-41). The Count keeps moving through the throng, and so is hit more than once by the guards. He finally comes to the attention of the Almoner, to whom he relates the purpose of his search, without revealing identities. The Almoner directs him to the Ostel-Dieu and its Superior. Reunion with the Countess and his son is happily achieved and her identity at last revealed. The Mayoress and the Superior are amply rewarded. The third series of episodes describes a mans experience of assumed poverty. He sets out in a state of more abject poverty than that of the lady and her companion. He feels acutely the physical pain and hardship, and encounters public contempt and hostility. Altogether the three series offer a glimpse of varying states of poverty and different treatment of the poor, thus showing the ambiguity present in certain medieval attitudes to poverty.

Conclusions
Poverty, or income inadequacy, a term adopted these days by government ministries, is depicted in these literary examples in material terms: clothes, food, and bedding especially. Absent from this literature are the worst manifestations of poverty: crime, physical disabilities (although one character pretends to be a blind pauper), and other repulsive features: smell, dirt, ugliness, and lack of sanitation. The conventional opposition of rich and poor has been replaced by the paradox that the visible, external signs of poverty do not conceal natural beauty and intrinsic nobility. Knightly prowess, seigneurial largesse, the charitable institutions of the Church, the hospitality and good will of others, even of the very poor, as well as the practical skills and active role of women, are means of relieving the pain and shame of poverty and re-integrating in society the marginalised poor.

PERSPECTIVES ON POVERTY IN SOME MEDIEVAL FRENCH LITERARY WORKS

203

References
Chaucer, G. (1951). The Canterbury tales. (N. Coghill Trans.). Harmondsworth: Penguin. de Lorris, G., & de Meun, J. (1966-1970). Le Roman de la Rose (Vols. 1-3). F. Lecoy (Ed.). Paris: H. Champion. de Montaiglon, A., & Raynouard, G. (Eds.). (1872-1890). Recueil gnral et complet des fabliaux des XIIIe et XIVe sicles (Vols. 1-6). Paris: Jouast; New York: B. Franklin. de Pizan, C. (1959-1966). Le Livre de la mutacion de fortune (Vols. 1-4). S. Solente (Ed.). Paris: Picard. de Troyes, C. (1952). Yvain (Le Chevalier au lion). T. B. W. Reid (Ed.). Manchester: Manchester University Press. de Troyes, C. (1966). Les Romans de Chrtien de Troyes. I. Erec et Enide. M. Roques (Ed.). Paris: H. Champion. Frappier, J. (1968). Chrtien de Troyes. Paris: Hatier. Geremek, B. (1987). The margins of society in late medieval Paris. (J. Birrell Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Geremek, B. (1994). Poverty: A history. (A. Kolakowska Trans.). Cambridge, M.A.: Blackwell. Guest, G. B. (1995). A discourse on the poor: The hours of Jeanne dEvreux. Viator, 26, 153-180. Jakemes. (1976). LHistoire du chastelain de Couci et de la dame de Fayel. G. A. Crapelet (Ed.). Geneva: Slatkine. Lorcin, M.-Th. (1979). Faons de sentir et de penser: les fabliaux. Paris: Champion. Lucas, H. S. (1930). The great European famine of 1315, 1316, and 1317. Speculum, 5, 343-377. Maillart, J. (1931). Le Roman du comte dAnjou. M. Roques (Ed.). Geneva: Droz. Mollat, M. (1986). The poor in the Middle Ages: An essay in social history. (A. Goldhammer Trans.). New Haven: Yale University Press. Tobin, P. M. (1976). Les Lais anonymes des 12e et 13e sicles: dition critique de quelques lais bretons. Geneva: Droz.

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 April 2013, Vol. 3, No. 4, 204-212

DA VID

PUBLISHING

A Study on Imitating Activities of Hanshan Poems by Chan Buddhist Monks in SONG Dynasty*
HUANG Jing-Jia
National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

Although we have no clear picture of the life of Hanshan, a legendary TANG monk and in Collected Poems of Hanshan (Hanshan Shiji), we can find either unclear ideas regarding his major thoughts or different ideologies from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Hanshan poetry was broadly read by people belonging to various social statuses during the SONG Dynasty. His poetry was also frequently cited in Chan Buddhist literature of the period. Furthermore, SONG Chan Buddhist monks invited Hanshan into their own genealogy and regarded him as a San Sheng (a Free Sage). Many Chan Buddhist monks of the SONG Dynasty used Hanshan poetry in various Chan Buddhist texts. Numerous Chan Buddhist monks even wrote so-called ni Hanshan shi, which imitated Hanshan poetry as a kind of personal literary creation. It is understandable that when a monk imitated Hanshan poetry, he would simultaneously be both the reader and the creator of Hanshan poetry, and as we understand that every writer produces their works through their own cultural outlook, a newly-formed correlation occurred naturally between the original poetry and imitated poetry through the SONG Chan Buddhist monks version. By observing this correlation, this paper will deeply analyze the dissemination and acceptance of Hanshan poetry, within Chan Buddhist society in the SONG Dynasty, as based on Chan Buddhist literature, in order to learn more about image creation and the recreation of Hanshan during the period. Keywords: Hanshan, imitating Hanshan poetry, literature of the SONG Dynasty, Chan Buddhism masters, dissemination and acceptance

Introduction
Due to the popularity of Chan from the late TANG, Five Dynasties, to the SONG Dynasty, Hanshan was incorporated into the genealogy of Chan, and his poetry was passed through Chan circles, eliciting a wave of simulators. From the Five Dynasties to the SONG Dynasty, Chan Buddhism masters imitated the linguistic style or content of understanding in Hanshan poetry, leaving many Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, which became unique expressions in Chan literature. This demonstrates the familiarity and identification of SONG Chan Buddhism masters with Hanshan poetry. Existing research on Hanshan has rarely emphasized how Chan literature utilized Hanshan poetry; however, understanding how Chan literature interprets and utilizes Hanshan poetry is an important key to exploring how the image of Hanshan was converted into that of a Chan monk. Thus,
*

Acknowledgements: The financial support of the Taiwan National Science Council is gratefully acknowledged. HUANG Jing-Jia, associate professor, Department of Chinese, National Taiwan Normal University.

A STUDY ON IMITATING ACTIVITIES OF HANSHAN POEMS

205

this study rejects an investigation of the authenticity of Hanshan, and uses the SONG Dynasty Chan Buddhism masters imitations of Hanshan poetry to observe the acceptance of Hanshan during the SONG Dynasty. Existing imitation literatures of Hanshan poetry by Chan monks from the Five Dynasties to the SONG Dynasty include: (1) Fadeng Taiqin (? -974) 10 Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, collected in Chanmen Zhu Zushi Ji Song (The verses of Chan Buddhism Masters), first half of first volume; (2) Fenyang Shanzhao (947-1024) 10 Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, collected in Records of Chan Buddhism Master Fanyang Wud, final volume; (3) Changling Shouzhuo (1065-1123) four Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, collected in Records of Chan Buddhism Masters Changling Shouzhuo; (4) Xiyu Xianjing (dates unknown) 10 Imitations of Hanshans Self-Description, collected in Jia Tai Pu Deng Lu, the 29th volume; (5) Cishou Huaishen (1077-1132) 148 Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, collected in Gaoli version of Collected Poems of Hanshan with one volume of Cishou Imitations of Hanshan Poetry; and (6) Hengchuan Rugong (1222-1289) 20 Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, collected in Records of Chan Buddhism Masters Hengchuan Rugong, final volume. Chan monks of the SONG Dynasty produced high quality and quantity Imitations of Hanshan Poetry. As they were both readers and creators of Hanshan poetry, and positioned within their cultural systems, they could not avoid understanding Hanshan and his poetry from their personal cultural outlook. Then, what paths of acceptance for heritage and change, including linguistic expression and Chan context, exist between the imitation works of the SONG Dynasty Chan Buddhism masters and the originals? The following uses stylistic changes of the SONG Dynasty Chan Buddhism masters imitations of Hanshan poetry to evaluate their understanding of the content of Hanshan poetry.

Transmission of Hanshan Poetry in SONG Dynasty Chan Society


Collected Poems of Hanshan has mixed content with diversity in Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Only some of the Hanshan poetry transmitted into Chan society involved clear Buddhist dogma or Chan contexts, and the imitations of Hanshan by Chan monks involved such parts. Hanshan poetry was free in form, not limited by format or rhyming, its language was simple, and its images were true, in a naturally interesting and lively Chan context. His image, and the influence of his poetry in the Chan Sect, were primarily established and deepened by the acceptance of SONG Dynasty poets and Chan monks. Even poems about Buddhism showed two completely different inclinations and styles, including common Buddhist dogma and Chan contexts. From semantics and imagery to theme, these types of poetry showed significantly different styles; thus, many scholars asserted that the Collected Poems of Hanshan was not written by a single person1. The Chan poems of Hanshan expressed the wisdom of quiet living, contentment, and clarity, which are completely unlike his wild image. If he did not deliberately pretend to be wild and poor to hide his real nature, then it may be as charged, as by aforementioned scholars, that someone else was the author of the Chan poems in the Collected Poems of Hanshan. Later, people used vernacular common poetry to orient the style of Hanshan poetry, rather than Chan context poetry. On one
1

Chia-hsi Yu (2007) stated: Hanshans poems may have some imitations mixed in (p. 1264). SUN Chang-wu (1994, p. 230) also believed that Hanshan poetry was not only written by one person, and that there should have been a group of authors of Hanshan poetry. JIA Jin-hua (2003, pp. 65-90) used the original concept of popular poems by Hanshan to admonish society through irony, as well as poetry that expressed Southern Chan thinking to describe differences in object-subject narration habits, word choice style, and rhyming schemes to propose that Hanshan Chan poetry was not written by Hanshan, but rather by Caoshan Benji.

206

A STUDY ON IMITATING ACTIVITIES OF HANSHAN POEMS

hand, there is a wide disparity between the numbers of these two types of poetry, on the other hand, Hanshans common poetry is more widely disseminated. Scholars disagree about when the poems of Hanshan began to be widely disseminated. Since the Daoist monk XU Ling-fu compiled the Collected Poems of Hanshan, Caoshan Benji annotated On Hanshan Poems, they became very popular. By the SONG Dynasty, Hanshan poems became even more popular among literati and the Chan society. An important contemporary scholar of Hanshan poetry studies, XIANG (2010), stated in Hanshan Poetry Annotation (Preface): By the Song Dynasty, Hanshan poetry found an understanding audience among literati (p. 16)2. He divided Hanshan poetry into two types, transforming the common and retreat, further summarizing the Hanshan style as having the linguistic features of: non-conformity to character and rhyming rules, direct presentation of his thoughts, and vulgar and elegant, extremely interesting as poems (XIANG, 2010, pp. 14-16). Later understanding of the Hanshan style was gradually formed after the wide dissemination of Hanshan poetry, including the organic stylistic content formed by the original works, the later imitations through common cognition, and the addition of the different imitators that enriched and changed them.

Stylistic Features of Chan Buddhism Masters Imitations of Hanshan Poetry From the Five Dynasties to the Early Northern SONG Dynasty
The earliest imitations of Hanshan poetry were 10 Imitations of Hanshan Poetry (n.d.) by Fadeng Taiqin in the Five Dynasties. Taiqin was a disciple of Fayan Sect Qingliang Wenyi (885-958). In his youth he was in quiet study and not known by others, he had a bold character and often ignored the rules; the others looked down on him but Wenyi thought very highly of him. This was similar to Hanshan live in privacy at Hanyan near Guoqing Temple and acted crazy while admonishing the world. His poem stated:
Whenever I think of comrades, I can only count Hanshan on my fingers. He lives cheerfully under a thousand peaks, But has no one to visit. In the morning he watches the clouds, At dusk he listens to the babbling brook. If you ask me about a quiet and strange place in the mountain, I live in this mountain nook. (The verses of Chan Buddhism Masters, n.d., p. 729b)

Taiqin lived with the clouds as a hermit in the mountains, with only Hanshan as his spiritual comrade, and used imitations poems as a way of achieving spiritual interaction with Hanshan. Because each person achieves Chan enlightenment in his own way, Hanshan became an understanding voice across the generations for solitary practitioners seeking enlightening. Hanshan hermitage Hanyan, wrote a poem stating: Sitting all night on the stone bed, a round moon rises from the cold mountain () (XIANG, 2010, p. 578), which symbolized the fulfilled character of ones nature, and was the expression of the spiritual realm; this was the lifestyle of Hanshan that Taiqin admired.
2 Including An-shi Wang, Shi Su, Ting-chien Huang, You Lu, and Hsi Chu et al., who wrote imitations or commented on Han Shan poetry.

A STUDY ON IMITATING ACTIVITIES OF HANSHAN POEMS

207

After Taiqin, there was Fenyang Shanzhaos 10 Imitations of Hanshan Poetry. He was by nature serious and profound, with a diligent attitude in studying Chan. He visited 71 contemporary Chan Buddhist masters, and finally settled at Linji Sect Shoushan Shengnian (926-993). He lived at Fenzhou Taiping Temple Taizi Chan Hall and preached tirelessly for 30 years, becoming the master who revitalized Linji. Shanzhao had a serious Chan style; when he was young he learned how to read without a teacher, which showed that he was highly intelligent. His Song Gu Bai Ze was disseminated in Chan society. Shanzhao also cited Hanshan as a comrade with similar enlightenment states:
A silent and quiet place, Few people come here. The bright moon shines quietly through the window, The sunlight opens the door. White cranes crowd on the trees in the courtyard, The oriole calls on the balcony behind the house. Who can understand the same ideas, Looking up and afar to Mount Tiantai. (Records of Chan Buddhism Master Fanyang Wude, n.d., p. 625a )

Shanzhao practiced Chan in the mountains, and rarely saw other people, only accompanied by cranes and orioles. His heart could only be understood by Hanshan of Mount Tiantai, to which he looked. This shows that Shanzhao saw Hanshan as someone who knew his heart. Hanshan was a poet, a mountain, and a realm of understanding the way. Thus, Hanshan poetry states: If your heart is the same as mine, you can come here ( ) (XIANG, 2010, p. 40). He pointed out a path to the spiritual state of Hanshan for future generations, and later led Chan practitioners to confirm their hearts. Thus, Shanzhao saw Hanshan as an understanding friend living in the mountains and forests: I meditate alone and miss my comrade, and I hear bells from afar. I wanted to say something but could not describe it with words, so all I did was clap and laugh ( ) (Records of Chan Buddhism Master Fanyang Wude, n.d., p. 624c). This is one of the crazy images of Hanshan; in response to the complexity of people, he could not argue with them, but could only clap and laugh without making judgment. This shows that both Taiqin and Shanzhao saw Hanshan as their comrade in cultivating enlightenment. Their imitations of Hanshan poetry were also similar in styles. An imitation work by Taiqin:
Nothing was lost from the past to present, All are clear before ones eyes. A cloud rises into the night valley, A lone crane flies down from the distant sky. The reeds on the shore are green in the fog, The flowers by the stream are fresh with rain. Who can know the meaning of this? It makes me remember Nanquan. (The verses of Chan Buddhism Masters, n.d., p. 729a)

208

A STUDY ON IMITATING ACTIVITIES OF HANSHAN POEMS The imagery is as fresh and beautiful as facing natural scenery after enlightenment would be in a clearer

mental state. This sort of Chan enlightenment clarity could only be understood by others in the same state, thus, he thought of famous Southern Sect Chan Buddhism master Nanquan Puyuan (748-834). Yuanwu Keqins Bi Yan Lu (n.d.) cited in Puyuan said: It is most precious for a practitioner to look like a foolish person (Emerald cliff record, n.d., p. 166b). The Fifth Master of Chan had 700 disciples that could speak Buddhism, but inherit to Huineng, because Huineng could not, thus, he could only practice and was unable to inherit from the Fifth Master (Fo Guo Huan Yu Chan Shi Bi Yan Lu, n.d. p.166b). Most people have too much Buddhist knowledge, but Buddhism could only be experienced beyond the dimension of narration. Thus, in nature, Taiqin faced an understanding that could only be understood and not described, so he remembered Nanquan for correspondence. Taiqin wrote another poem: Who believes that everyone has the Buddha Nature, thinking of this makes me upset and despair () (The verses of Chan Buddhism Masters, n.d., p. 729b). With this poem, he lamented that people do not understand that their true innate nature was the Buddha. In Buddha Nature, Chan refers to the Buddha character and innate natural present in all creatures. That means like Yongjia Zheng Dao Ge stated: Understand that the Dharmakya was originally empty, only the Buddha nature of original nature () (Yongjia Zheng Dao Ge, n.d., p. 395c). Hanshan poetry also stated: Even though there are a thousand Buddhas, I have the Buddha Nature () (XIANG, 2010, p. 422). Shanzhaos Imitations of Hanshan Poetry was also similar to Taiqin:
Buddha has a hundred benevolent and solemn appearances, The path to cultivation is very long. Clouds appear in the sky, Rain falls in the ponds. Spring birds chirp, But autumn birds are busy. Who can understand the meaning within, Only me transformed into Fenyang. (Records of Chan Buddhism Master Fanyang Wude, n.d., p. 624c)

The first three couplets expressed the aspects of nature as themselves, while the final couplet could be interpreted in two ways: The first expressed that self and nature can be transformed to a member of the Chan Buddhism master Fenyang. The other was that Shanzhao was invited by monks and laypeople of Fenzhou to preach for nearly 30 years without leaving, revitalizing the Linji Sect. Other than Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, Shanzhao also had 15 Nan Xing Shu Mu Tong Ge ( ), with styles similar to Hanshan poetry, where #15 stated: Frequently laughing at Hanshan, often singing about Shide. Since Luciou asked Fenggan, they both hid in a stone wall ( ) (Records of Chan Buddhism Master Fanyang Wude, n.d., p. 626c). The shepherd, Hanshan, Shide, and Fenggan had the same childlike minds, and if Luciou asked about them, it would result in forcing them to hide in the stone wall, and people would never see them moving in the world with their nave natures. The shepherds song corresponds to Hanshans idea that the Buddha Nature was the true nature that practitioners were searching for; on the other hand, he reminded them that the point of the shepherding heart was

A STUDY ON IMITATING ACTIVITIES OF HANSHAN POEMS to maintain the true nature of minds.

209

This section shows that from the Five Dynasties to the early Northern SONG, Taiqin and Shanzhaos imitations of Hanshan poetry were all composed in eight lines, two lines to a couplet, and even had rhymes. Though the rhetoric was not especially polished, it was refreshing and natural with clear imagery. As Chan Buddhism masters, they used imitation works to convey their admiration of Hanshan, whom they saw as a kindred spirit, and frequently thought of him in their close to nature Chan practices. In terms of content, it inherits from the Chan poems of Hanshan, filled with natural Chan states. Thus, Taiqin and Shanzhao used their own experiences in practicing Chan and the perspective of Chan enlightenment to interpret Hanshan poetry, in turn, writing imitations of Chan-style poems of Hanshan.

Stylistic Changes in Chan Buddhism Masters Imitations of Hanshan Poetry in the Late Northern SONG Dynasty
In the late Northern SONG Dynasty, Changling Shouzhuo wrote four Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, which primarily interpreted Chan thought. Shouzhuo practiced at Linji Sect Yellow Dragon School Lingyuan Weiqing (? -1117), where he revitalized Linji Sect, and since his countenance was serious and cold, people called him Iron Face.
Seeing the way is practicing the way, Without mind, who can find enlightenment. True, false, common, sacred, No difference between past and present in the rise and fall. Withered leaves flow in the green brook, Breeze blows into a quiet forest. Who comes below the rocks, To teach you to thread a needle at night. (Records of Chan Buddhism Master Changling Shouzhuo, n.d., p. 270a).

The first couplet was from the words of Mazu Daoyi: It is not necessary to cultivate the way, as long there is no pollution (Broad Records of Chan Master Ma Zu Dao Yi, n.d., p. 3a). What is pollution? Any mind paid to life, death, or pretense is all pollution. Being without mind is to practice the way, which means one should maintain a mind without excess. What is a mind without excess? Being without a discerning mind for pretense, true/false, take/give, irregular/regular, or common/sacred is to be without mind. Folklore stated that on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar, women who thread needles under the moonlight could beg for and achieve dexterous hands. This refers to the understanding of enlightenment by meditating in the forest on quiet nights. This type of imitation poem had significant Chan character; and it is necessary to understand Chan lingo in order to understand his thoughts. Thus, there is more Chan than emotional effect. Xiyu Xianjing3 wrote 10 Imitations of Hanshans Self-Description to express ones own experiences in
3

Although the birth and death years for Xianjing are not known, from the fact that he learned from Linji Sect Yellow Dragon Schools Letan Yingqian (1034-1096), his contemporary 14th Nanyue Master Shouzhuo, and the time during which his teacher Lingyuan Weiqing was alive, they should have been contemporaries. See Jia Tai Pu Deng Lu (Vol. 10) Chu Zhou Sheng Yin Xian Jing Chan Shi, Xin Zuan Wan Xu Cang Jing, Vol. 79, No.1559, p. 348a.

210

A STUDY ON IMITATING ACTIVITIES OF HANSHAN POEMS

practicing meditation, which showed even more plain imagery and without profound Chan significance.
Many imitations of Hanshan, Or imitations of Shide. Everyone has ambition as high as the sky, What good does imitation do. Live in the mountain and see its green, Live by the water and listen to its endless sounds. Flower in the wind and moon in the snow, All the time sing by yourself. (Jia Tai Pu Deng Lu, n.d., p. 476a)

Comparatively speaking, the Chan principles in Xianjings imitations were not like Shouzhuo within Chan wisdom character, but clearly interpret common Buddhist principles. For instance, cause-and-effect, teaching people to cease complaining, as such expressive methods were more direct than before Chan masters. This shows that Xianjings imitations of Hanshan poetry had adopted a style of clear admonishment. Cishou Huaishen was a disciple of Yunmen Sect Changlu Chongxin (dates unknown); although he died at the beginning of the Southern SONG Dynasty, he primarily lived under the Northern SONG Dynasty. He was adept at poetry, calligraphy, and painting; he was serious in holding to principles, and often wrote verses to admonish his disciples. He wrote 148 Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, which had similar styles to his contemporary Xianjing, easy to understand and widely disseminated. Huaishen saw Hanshan as a avatar of Manjusri in the human world. In the poetry collections preface, he wrote: Hanshan and Shide are Manjusri and Samantabadra. They have written more than 300 poems that have disseminated in the world. Their words have deep meaning in admonishing the people (Gaoli version of collected poems of Hanshan, n.d., p. 1). The sages have appeared and they are in the world. They pretend to be poor scholars, they sing and laugh, writing their poetic verses on the stone walls, which are easy to understand in their admonishment function (Gaoli version of collected poems of Hanshan, n.d., p. 1). Then, he explained the intentions of imitations of Hanshan poetry:
As I am old and sick, I live in Dongting Lake. There is nothing for me to do but sing Hanshan poetry and Shide verses. I imitated their styles to write 148 poems. Although my words are clumsy and without literary brilliance, I only seek to express the compassion of these sages. (Gaoli version of collected poems of Hanshan, n.d., p. 1)

Thus, Huaishens motivation behind simulation works was not only to express his meditation reflections, but had a further religious mission. This was clearly expressed by referring to Hanshan as a avatar of Manjusri, who used poetic verses as a technique to transform people. Thus, even though these lacked the literary brilliance of poetry, they still realized Hanshans intention of admonishing and broadly transforming the people. Compared to Chan poems, which fewer people can understand, they had greater identification among the people. Imitations by Huaishen generally focused on admonishing people to avoid killing. For instance, There is much killing in the world, producing violent disasters ( ) (Gaoli version of collected poems of Hanshan, n.d., p. 2). The cause-and-effect of eating meat: The rich like to eat meat, the poor usually eat vegetables. Compared to eating meat, eating vegetables does not produce negative karma ( ) (Gaoli version of collected poems of Hanshan, n.d., p. 3).

A STUDY ON IMITATING ACTIVITIES OF HANSHAN POEMS

211

The trouble of reincarnation: Terrifying reincarnation, it cannot be stopped with thoughts ( ) (Gaoli version of collected poems of Hanshan, n.d., p. 18). There were many such admonishment poems that asked people to stop killing and eating meat, which were quite similar to Hanshans popular admonishment poems. It was impossible for Huaishen not to have read the Chan poems in the Hanshan Poetry Collection. Perhaps it was due to a coincidence in their personalities or purposes, he imitated the style of Hanshan in simple language and clear meaning, with the goal of disseminating the popular teachings of Buddhism. In the late Southern SONG Dynasty, Hengchuan Rugong was a disciple of Linji Sect Yangqi School Tianmu Wenli (1167-1250). He had been a sheep herding hermit at Mount Yandang, during which time he wrote 20 imitations of Hanshan poetry. He believed: Hanshan does not have themes in poetry, just expresses his original nature (Records of Chan Buddhism Masters Heng Chuan Ru Gong, n.d., p. 203b). True nature refers to ones innate Buddha nature, which naturally flows from ones real nature. The flow could be seen as an outpouring or enlightenment of ones nature; it could also mean to development or use verbal expression to explore ones true nature. Rugongs imitations are similar to the verses in Chan, his rhetoric is plain and simple, generally describing the solid understandings of life as a practitioner or experiences of rural living.
Even when one is old, ones mind does not rest, If the mind rests, everything rests. When a gourd on the water can be held down, One can believe that the bridge is flowing while the water is not. (Records of Chan Buddhism Master Hengchuan Rugong, n.d., p. 203a)

This poem utilized a poem by Liang Dynasty Master Fuxi: Holding a hoe empty-handed, walking while riding a water buffalo. Man passing over a bridge, the bridge is flowing and the water is not ( ) (Records of Words of Master Shan Hui, n.d., p. 130b). How could one be empty-handed if holding a hoe; how could one be riding a water buffalo while walking; and how can the bridge be the flowing and the water not flowing when one passes over a bridge and watches the water? These three points are in complete contradiction to life knowledge and common sense. However, the Chan style of thinking seeks to break all commonly understood logic, freeing oneself from rational understanding, and fully face the current context. Thus, holding a hoe without insistence, no difference between riding a buffalo and walking, seeing water flow while crossing a bridge, or seeing a bridge flow while crossing water are all unreal manifestations, but all are possible manifestations among 10 thousand; there is no reason to insist on right or wrong. Rugongs poem believed that all differences arise from the mind; without thoughts there would be no truth or falsehood, and people would not be seduced by external manifestations. Thus, the imitators own Chan experiences, cultural literacy, and purpose of imitation, would affect their stylistic inclinations in imitations. Comparison of the Chan Buddhism masters imitations of Hanshan poetry in the earlier and later periods shows that there were clear changes in style and content. From the Five Dynasties to the early Northern SONG Dynasty, Chan Buddhism masters used the resonance and call of their Chan practice experiences to imitate the Chan enlightened imagery of Hanshan. In the late Northern SONG, imitations by Chan Buddhism masters gradually developed in a rational and popular direction, emphasizing plain Buddhist principles. When there were no more imitations of the Chan image, and the poems became a plainer verses in poetry.

212

A STUDY ON IMITATING ACTIVITIES OF HANSHAN POEMS

Conclusions
According to time progression, this study analyzed imitation style changes in SONG Dynasty Chan Buddhism masters Hanshan poetry. In the Five Dynasties and early Northern SONG Dynasty, Fadeng Taiqin and Fenyang Shanzhao saw Hanshan as their comrade, and primarily imitated the Chan enlightenment styles of Hanshan poetry, inheriting the spiritually gifted Chan style of Hanshan, which is full of intricate Chan thoughts. In late Northern SONG, Chan Buddhism masters saw Hanshan as a avatar of bodhisattva, and the main imitations of Hanshan poetry used common verbal language to express admonishing themes. Changling Shouzhuos verbal Chan stories, and Xiyu Xianjing and Cishou Huaishens imitation of Hanshans clear and direct admonishment poems, with definitive Buddhist principles and significant admonishments were widely disseminated. Therefore, from Fadeng Taiqin to Hengchuan Rugong, the styles of imitation were a gradual evolution from Chan enlightenment to Chan principles, and to popular admonishment. The author does not believe that the style focusing on Chan is greater than the vernacular poems that express common Buddhist principles. In fact, both styles were present in Hanshan poetry, and the amount of the latter greatly exceeded that of the former. Imitations of Hanshan poetry after Cishou Huaishen uniformly demonstrated admonishments, not only a unification in understanding of the style of Hanshan poetry, but also these plain verbal admonishments in Hanshan poetry were seen as its primary style. Moreover, since common admonishment poems were more easily disseminated, they became commonly understood as the Hanshan style, followed by later imitators. This shows that the imitations by SONG Dynasty Chan Buddhism masters have a crucial place in understanding of the significance of poetry in the Hanshan style.

References
Broad Records of Chan Master Mazu Daoyi (). (n.d.). Xin Zuan Wan Xu Cang Jing, 69, 3a. CHEN, Y. T. (2007). Hanshan poetry collection editions. Beijing: World Affairs Press. Emerald Cliff Record (). (n.d.). Da Zheng Zang, 48, 166b. Gaoli Version of Collected Poems of Hanshan (). (n.d.). Cishou Imitations of Hanshan Poetry, 1. JIA, J. H. (2003, March). A study of the authentic author of the Chan poems in the Collected Poems of Hanshan. Bulletin of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, 22, 65-90. Jiatai Record of Universal of Lamp (). (n.d.). Xin Zuan Wan Xu Cang Jing, 79, 476a. Records of Chan Buddhism Master Changling Shouzhuo (). (n.d.). Xin Zuan Wan Xu Cang Jing, 69, 270a. Records of Chan Buddhism Master Fanyang Wude (). (n.d.). Da Zheng Zang, 47, 624c. Records of Chan Buddhism Master Hengchuan Rugong (). (n.d.). Xin Zuan Wan Xu Cang Jing, 71, 203a. Records of Words of Master Shan Hui (). (n.d.). Xin Zuan Wan Xu Cang Jing, 69, 130b. SUN, C. W. (1994). Poetry and Chan. Taipei: Dong Da Publishing. The Enlightenment Song of Yongjia (). (n.d.). Da Zheng Zang, 48, 395c. The Verses of Chan Buddhism Masters (). (n.d.). Xin Zuan Wan Xu Cang Jing, 66, 729a. Tsui, H. C. (2010). Han Shan: Searching for a cultural phenomenon. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. XIANG, C. (2010). Hanshan poetry annotations (Han Shan Shi Zhu). Beijing: Zhonghua Books. Yeh, C. H. (Ed.). (2005). Hanshan data compilations. Taipei: Xiu Wei Technology. YU, C. H. (2007). Discrimination of the catalogue summary of imperial collection of four (). Beijing: Zhonghua Books.

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 April 2013, Vol. 3, No. 4, 213-223

DA VID

PUBLISHING

The Major Western Cultural Influences on the Incubating Process of Ezra Pounds Early Poetics*
WEI Shu
Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing, China

This paper intends to study Ezra Pounds early poetics and his modernist poetry through a close research of the various elements in the shaping process of his poetics, and the significance and influence of his poetic thoughts on the American New Poetry Movement. It studies firstly the early translations and romantic lyrics of Pound, trying to demonstrate that part of the influence on his early poetics is from the Western traditional cultural inheritance and that the emphasis on musicality that Pound inherited from traditional forms of poetry turns out to be one of the major principles that Pound advocates in his early poetics; then it comes to the discussion of the new translation concepts and poetics in The Seafarer (1911), which is a great work Pound translated based on an Old English poem; next this paper will focus on the influence of Robert Brownings dramatic monologues and Yeats Symbolism on Pounds transition from subjectivity to objectivity. Keywords: Ezra Pound, early poetics, American New Poetry Movement

Introduction
Ezra Pound has been widely acknowledged as the founder and the most prolific and talented poet of modernist poetry. Research on Pound is conducted mainly in Western countries and most of the precious manuscripts and materials are enshrined in Western universities like Yale. The achievements in China are relatively small and immature. This is due partly to the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of his works or his other political activities and partly to the difficulties in comprehending his works. In order to better present the history and status of Poundian studies, this paper will discuss the diversified Western elements in the incubating process of Pounds early poetics and the formation of his poetic style. Those elements range from the Provenal lyrical poems, Brownings dramatic monologues, Yeats Symbolism, and Old English poems.

Ezra Pounds Early Translations, Romantic Lyrics, and Popular Ballads


Like those literary careers begin with imitation, Ezra Pound also started with modeling on some previous masterpieces. From his university days to 1910, Pound wrote some lyrical poems, most of which were imitations based on his translations of Greek, Roman, Provenal lyric poems, minstrel or popular ballads, and Old English poems. Ezra Pounds own publishing career began on November 8, 1902 with the short poem called Ezra on
*

This study is funded by Beijing Information Science and Technology University (No. 1335021). WEI Shu, lecturer, School of Foreign Languages, Beijing Information Science and Technology University.

214

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS

the Strike in a local newspaper. It contains eight quatrains in imitation of James Whitcomb Riley in the voice of an old farmer on his way to town with hay who comments on the approach of Thanksgiving Day and the effects of a strike:
Wal, Thanksgiving do be comin round./With the price of turkeys on the bound,/And Coal, by gum! Thet were just found,/Is surely getting cheaper./The winds will soon begin to howl,/And winter, in its yearly growl,/Across the medders begin to prowl,/And Jack Frost getting deeper. (Pound, 2003, p. 1149)

This little poem shows Pound has a good sense of conventional lyrics at that time. And another little poem is also interesting. It has only four lines, rhyming abba, a typical ballad quatrain. It was written in late 1903 or early 1904. It was called Motif when first published in his first book A Lume Spento (1908) and retitled Search in Personae (1909) the following year:
Through woodlands dim/Have I taken my way, And over silent waters, night and day/Have I sought the wee wind. (Pound, 2003, p. 55)

And probably in 1904, Pound wrote the two short poems, Song and To the Dawn: Defiance, which were first published in A Lume Spento. These two poems are the best examples of showing the formation of the dream element which is important later. Song begins with love thou thy dream and ends with dream alone can truly be/for tis in dreams I come to thee (Pound, 2003, p. 54) while the other To the Dawn: Defiance similarly tells of a dream: ye blood-red spears-men of the dawns array/my moated soul shall dream in your despite/a refuge for the vanquished hosts of night (Pound, 2003, p. 53). At that time, Pound was still not very skillful in poetry writing and picking the right words, so he had to employ the worn-out word-patterns. His Belangal Alba translated from the Provenal lyrical poem, was published in the May 1905 issue of the Hamilton Literary Magazine:
Dawn light, oer aea and height, riseth bright,/Passeth vigil, clear shineth on the night. They be careless of the agates, delaying,/Whom the ambush glides to hinder Whom I warn and cry to, praying./Arise! (Stock, 1970, p. 45)

This is a successful translation from which Pound has some basic sense of romantic spirit. It can be believed that such translations began modeling Pounds early poetry and poetics. Of the five poems in A Lume Spento which appear to belong to 1905, two of them Plotinus and Ballad for Gloom move well enough, but the gap between his words and what he is trying to express is uncomfortably wide; he has had the experience but as yet lacks the means to turn it into genuine poetry. Two others of the five were successful and are rightly collected among the authors shorter poems: On His Own Face in a Glass and For E. McC.. However, his later poem The Cry of the Eyes, which he began in 1905 and finished the following year, reflects Pounds awakening of clarity and hardness in his verse; though it was coached in an artificial language, there is a quite delightful turn in some new poetic sense:
Would feel the fingers of the wind/Upon these lids that lie over us/Sodden and lead-heavy. (Pound, 2003, p. 37)

And at the same time, Pound began to follow a poetic rule, noticing the importance of the simplicity of style. The following sections are his practice of this style:

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS

215

The yellow flame paleth/And the wax runs low./In this ever-flowing monotony/Of ugly print marks, black/Upon white parchment. (Pound, 2003, p. 37)

It may have been as early as the spring of 1906 that he composed the 19 lines which appear in A Lume Spento under the title Vana and as the opening section of Praise of Ysolt in Personae and later collections:
In vain have I striven/ To teach my heart to bow;/ In vain have I said to him/These be many singers greater than thou. (Pound, 2003, p. 40)

They are still fresh in their contrasts of rhythm (for example, in vain have I striven against in vain have I said to him) and still worth reading for the way in which emphasis is brought to bear on a key wordon greater, for instance, in the line there be many singers greater than thou. With another poem From Syria (1906) which appears to belong to this period when he was not so lucky. Pound stated in the notes of the poem that From Syria is a translation of a song by Peire Bremon Lo Tort that he made for his Lady in Provena:
In April when I see all through/Mead and garden new flowers blow,/And streams with ice-bands broken flow To me, saying all in sorrow:/Sweet friend, and what of me tomorrow?/Love mine, why wilt me so forsake? (Pound, 2003, p. 95)

It has all the vices of the young poet struck with admiration for a distant time and place, without any compensating virtues. It begins in April when new flowers blow in mead and garden progresses by way of my loves land to Syrian strand, and ends with the news that he is desirous and grief-filled, his days full long, etc. During this time, Pound has translated some Provenal poems and modeled them for his own poems, among which the best one is a 55-line poem called The Mourn of Life (1906). Before Pound went to London, he had published some good poems, a poem titled as A Dawn Song and published early in the December 1906 issue of Munseys Magazine (New York) should be mentioned:
God hath put me here/In earths goodly sphere/To sing the song of the day,/A strong, glad song,/If the road be long,/To me fellows in the way. (Pound, 2003, p. 1151)

Although Pound never belongs to any religion, he seems a strong believer of god. But anyway it is no more than an ignorant worship of a young college student. La Fraisne, is particular among all the early poems, for although it is mannered and form-conscious, it does have a sense of freshness, in terms of conception rather than of language, and vitality of rhythm. These win it a place among his best work:
She hath called me from mine old ways,/She hath hushed my rancour of council, Bidding me praise/Naught but the wind that flutters in the leaves. She hath drawn me from mine old ways,/Till men say that I am mad; But I have seen the sorrow of men, and am glad,/For I know that the wailing and bitterness are folly. (Pound, 2003, p. 23)

In his early poems, Cino and Na Audiart collected in A Lume Spento are so marvelous that they have stood the test of time. The subtitle to Cino is Italian Campagna 1309, the open road, and the poem itself opens out into other worlds:

216

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS


Eyes, dreams, lips, and the night goes,/I will sing of the white birds In the blue waters of heaven,/The clouds that are spray to its sea. (Pound, 2003, p. 24)

At the point of poetic form, Na Audiart is a troubadour love song. It is set in the 12th century, Provene and the plying of strands of sound by the young poet was a great achievement in its time and remains so today:
Broken of ancient pride,/Thou shalt then soften, Knowing, I know not how,/Thou wert once she Audiart, Audiart/For whose fairness once forgave Audiart, Audiart/Que be-m vols mal. (Pound, 2003, p. 28)

In a sense, this poem is a real love song of Pound who expresses his love to Mary Moor with whom Pound ever thought of marriage as a distinct possibility in the near future. No doubt, Pounds translation of Greek and Provenal love songs provides him a spirit of Romance. So his own love songs are so touching that they can be viewed as the important ones of the world lyrics. In 1908, Pound went to Italy and stayed in Venice, Pavia, and Verona, where he was impressed by peoples worship of Dante Alighieri. During those days, he continued to translate some lyric poems and published some poems of Latin-style or of Provenal-style such as sonnets, A Villonaud: Ballad of the Gibbet (1908), Sestina (1908), and Alba Belingalis (1908). The most important gain for Pound when he traveled in Italy is to be close to the great poet Dante. Because of this, Pound began to think about how to compose a great epic The Cantos (1947). The first Canto is actually a translation of Homers Odyssey. Just at this time, Pound had his ambition to compose a great modern epic.

The New Translation Conception and Poetics in the Modern English Version of The Seafarer (1911)
After translating some ancient Greek and Provenal lyric poems, Pound translated and published The Seafarer in 1911. This translation marks an important change of Pounds poetics, for it was one of his first major personae. That is to say, Pound employed some modernist conception in dealing with the Old English poems in his modern English version of it. Thus since its appearance it has been the object of both attacks and defenses and its status as accurate translation has been much disputed (XIE, 1999, p. 205). At the point of translation faithfulness, many critics complained. From both poetry translation and writing, the version of The Seafarer is a typical creative modern sample. Some critics doubted Pounds ability of understanding Old English and blamed that his version was not faithful to the original and destroyed the Victorian convention of translation and poetry. But some scholars defended Pounds version and proved that Pounds Anglo-Saxon studies were very serious. More importantly, in translating this version Pound has presented his creative concepts and emphasizes the characterization of the poem as a lyric and his omission of its final section as the Christening addition of clerkly monks, Pound was following through on the standard scholarly interpretation of the day. It can be believed that Pounds intention was simply to recover what he perceived to be the real, original Anglo-Saxon poem and he believed that his version was as close as any translation can be. In short, Pounds version of The Seafarer can be viewed as the bridge for Pound to change his conventional poetic concepts to modern poetry. The following two sections are on the modernist characters of Pounds translation and poetry.

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS

217

Pounds Recreating the Verse Movement of the Anglo-Saxon


In translating The Seafarer, Pound experimented with his remaking devices of translation and writing. He tried to recreate the verse movement of the Anglo-Saxon by closely approximating its sound effects and alliterative stress patterns. Pound did not pay much attention to the style of somberness and the peoples soreness, but he did notice the effect and importance of the sound. Just through this translation can the readers understand what the rhythm is like in Pounds early poems, and how important the sense of rhythm is in some of his late poems. Actually, Pound emphasized more rhythm than rhyme. He has written: Most so-called prose poetry lacks adequate rhythmic vitality (as cited in Kenner, 1987, p. 109) and In fact I am tempted to put it as a brace of axioms for all poetry: when the meter is bad, the language is apt to be poor; when the meter is good enough it will almost drive out all other defects of language (as cited in Kenner, 1987, p. 109). So Pound emphasized the rhythmic patterns of the original Old English poem. As Hollander (1959) commented:
Pounds translation points up some of the basic devices of Anglo-Saxon verse and carries them over into modern English, if not tit for tat at each occurrence, then often one for another, and always with sufficient regularity to make them understood as conventions. (pp. 211-212)

In order to give a simplified version of the Anglo-Saxon rules, here is an explanation of the typical Anglo-Saxon line that is composed of two half-lines, which are separated by a caesura (symbolized by ). Rhythmically, an Old English poem is characterized as that each half-line has two stressed syllables and an elastic number of unstressed syllables in three basic patterns: / x / x, x / x /, and x / / x, where x stands for one or more unstressed syllables and / stands for one stressed syllable. Other allowable patterns are achieved by combining a secondary stress, \, with the primary stresses and the unstressed syllables. Among the allowable patterns are / x \ / and / / x \. Thus a half-line must have a minimum number of four syllables. Among the few forbidden patterns for a half-line is x x / /. The two half-lines are bound together by alliteration. Pounds version of The Seafarer seeks to overcome the change in the language by reducing the number of unstressed syllables, thus increasing the weight of the lines. To do so, Pound wrote half-lines with fewer than four syllables and half-lines in the pattern x x / /. Pounds opening is scanned below, indicating some of the forbidden half-lines:
x /x x / \ / \ / x May I for my own self songs truth reckon / x / x x /x / \ Journeys jargon, how I in harsh days / \ x / / Hardship endured oft. /x / \ x /x/ x Bitter breast-cares have I abided, / x x / \ xx / / Known on my keel many a cares hold x / \ / x \ x / / And dire sea-surge and there I oft spent / x / \ x x / / Narrow night watch night the ships head x x / \ x / / x

218

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS


While she tossed close to cliffs, Coldly x / x afflicted, x / x x / x / My feet were by frost benumbed.

Despite the fact that it breaks the rule, Pound effort sounds really like the Old English poem. Though Pounds alliterative effects are sometimes overdone and obtrusive, his main interest in the poem is its essential music and its prosodic movement.

Pounds Use of Archaisms and Inversions


In his translation of The Seafarer, Pounds use of archaisms and inversions is deliberate. He just wanted to adapt his English to the Old English as closely as possible, not trying to assimilate the original to contemporary language. In the opening lines,
MAEg ic be me sylfum sogied wrecan My I for my own self songs truth reckon, Sis secgan, hu ic geswincdagum Journeys jargon, how I in harsh days earfohwile oft rowade, Hardship endured oft. (Apter, 1987, p. 121)

Pound tried to recreate the verse movement of the Anglo-Saxon by closely approximating its sound effects and alliterative stress patterns. He deliberately chose reckon to render both the sound and sense of wrecan (to utter or to express), and the forced alliteration provided by jargon in the second line, which is nevertheless a successful imitation of the original cadence. The translating process is closely and self-consciously interwoven with the contextual reality of the poem in all its minutiae of rhythm and sound-pressures, so that Pounds language cannot but be heavily affected by the experience of the Anglo-Saxon poem, whatever distortion might have result in the process. This is Pounds method of a heuristic translation: The new version sticks to certain intrinsic qualities of the original, while at the same time brings about the equivalent effects of these qualities in a new poem. Such translations based not so much on The Seafarer as a source-text of translation, so on The Seafarer as a poem that has been strongly made and can be re-made with a directly matching strength. The process of translation is thus one of closely studying the forces of the original through their effects (Pound, 1968b, p. 93), in order to show where the treasure lies (Pound, 1968b, p. 209). Though Pounds alliterative effects are sometimes overdone and obtrusive, his main interest in the poem is in its essential music and its prosodic movement, which he believes to be the embodiment of the poems secular heroin in the face of physical harshness, solitary exile, and spiritual anguish. These motifs of personal alienation and heroism came to have a major importance for Pounds later development, and the idiom of The Seafarer was to reappear in Canto I in a translation from Homers Odyssey (XIE, 1999, p. 207). Through the translation of this poem, Pound seemed to have a clear mind for how to view the past from the present. And his creative translation conception has come to an elementary shape at this time.

The Influence of Robert Brownings Dramatic Monologues on Ezra Pound


Robert Browning was one of the poets who solved the problem of how to reform the conventional Victorian

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS

219

poetry. Abrams (1986) ever commented that Ezra Pound valued him as a major artist and recognized that more than any other 19th century poet (even including Hopkins, it was Browning who energetically hacked through a trail that has subsequently become the main road of the 20th century poetry) (Abrams, 1986, p. 1229). After his first poem Pauline was criticized by John Stuart Mill as being in a morbid state of self worship (Abrams, 1986, p. 1230), Browning turned towards exploring another form more congenial to his geniusthe dramatic monologue, which enables the reader, speaker, and poet to be located at an appropriate distance from each other, aligned in such a way that the readers must work through the words of the speaker toward the meaning of the poems themselves. Browning distinguished himself from the Victorian age by reforming his poetic style. The most representative Victorian poets such as Alfred Tennyson or Dante Gabriel Rossetti wrote in the manner of Keats, Milton, Spenser, and of classical poets such as Virgil. Theirs are the central stylistic tradition in English poetry, one which favors smoothly polished texture and pleasing liquidity of sound (Abrams, 1986, p. 1233). Browning draws from a different tradition, more colloquial and discordant, a tradition which includes: The poetry of John Donne, the soliloquies of Shakespeare, the comic verse of the early nineteenth-century poet Thomas Hood, and certain features of the narrative style of Chaucer (Abrams, 1986, p. 1233). The problem of the subjectivity-objectivity dichotomy in poetry from the Romantic period to the 20th century has exercised many poets throughout their writing careers and is crucial if we are to understand the development of Ezra Pounds poetry. In the struggle of deciding where to turn, Robert Browning gave Pound a lot of enlightenment. For Robert Browning, the objective poet is concerned with the world perceived as external to the self, to the soul, or to individuality. The poetry that results will of necessity be substantive, projected from himself and distinct. According to Browning (1981), the objective poet chooses to deal with the doings of men, finds his subject matter in the noisy, complex yet imperfect exhibitions of nature in the manifold experience of man around him and in the inexhaustible variety of existence, and finds his audience in the aggregate human mind. The subjective poet, on the other hand, deals in essences, not in empirical, external realities: Not what man sees, but what God seesthe Ideas of Plato, seeds of creation lying burning on the Divine Handit is toward these that he struggles (Browning, 1981, p. 75). To summarize, the subject of objective poetry is the world and the activity of men in the world, whereas the subject of subjective poetry is the selfhood of the poet. Any careful reader of Pounds pre-cantos poetry will realize the enormous and enduring influence of Browning in Pounds early poetry. The more one maps Pounds poetic development, the more one sees that the path Pound followed was first laid down by Browning in his decade-long search through the 1830s for a way to shake off the subjectivity that is commonly seen in his Romantic forebears. The evidence of Pounds attachment to Browning can be traced back to the early development of Pounds poetry. The early publication of Pound shows very clear and immediate affinity to Browning. Many of pounds early poems demonstrate Brownings influence. Such poems as Cino, Famam Librosque Cano, Marvoil, Sestina: Altaforte, and Piere Vidal Old are accomplished exercises, but the skill they display is in large measure ventriloquial. Thus Grieve (1997) concludes in his thesis: Pounds career appears to begin at the point that Browning finally reached in the Dramatic Lyrics of 1842, which were published a full ten years after Pauline, the long confessional monodrama in the mold of his Romantic predecessors (p. 30).

220

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS There are other striking parallels in the careers of the two poets. In 1915, at the age of 30, Pound completed

and published two worksNear Perigord and Cathaythat, having little in common with each other, have much in common with two of Brownings equally disparate productions at the same age: Sordello (1840) and Dramatic Lyrics. Like Sordello, Near Perigord (and one should also mention here the first drafts of the early Cantos, which were begun in 1915) is the first instance of Pounds long rumination on and self-reflective dialogue with history, his questioning of the poets role in the world of action, and of his own enterprise in seeking truth outside the self (Grieve, 1997, p. 31). Cathay, just like Brownings Dramatic Lyrics, is the first volume of Pound that is accomplished through different speakers or voices in an objective way. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, to extend the parallel a little further, resembles a number of poems in Brownings Men and Women (1855)Fra Lippo Lippi, Chide Roland, How It Strikes a Contemporary, Andrea del Sarto, and Transcendentalism. Pound insisted on objectification of the poetic activity in his craft. In the two collections A Lume Spento and A Quinzaine for this Yule, Pounds poetical language, which to borrow Pounds own phrase, is to poeticize (Pound, 1968b, p. 52) his poems. But later, Pound became dissatisfied with the naked confessions and self-centered declarations of his feelings and emotions. He realized to express his senses in an objective way would be more powerful and touching. According to Grieve (1997), this transition can be proven by his republication and editing of his early poems in A Lume Spento and A Quinzaine for This Yule (p. 44). Pound owes an initial debt to Browning for the general idea of troubadour personae, but one of Pounds most indubitable claims to genuine originality is his revivification of the Provenal and early Italian poetry (Grieve, 1997, p. 49). Pound had the ability to synthesize what he had got from the previous works and history and to generate his own opinion. He understood that the misappropriation of the history and the works of the predecessors would lead to banality and spiritual malaise. He put a lot of time in studying the history, the classics, but his novel ideas and originality in poetry really brought into those old subjects a sense of freshness. He made the old subjects new and glittering. When Pound needed a contrast to the Victorian medievalist, he invoked Browning, and so it is not at all surprising that in many of these poems Brownings presence is strongly felt. Pound thought Browning was a learned person and the one who would guide him away from the Victorian tradition or the out-of-date Romantic banality. What most attracted Pound was Brownings ability to get at life (Pound, 1973, p. 32). In The Spirit of Romance (1910), Browning, like Dante before him, is judged to be a living man amongst the dead (Pound, 1968a, p. 6). Dante has shown the medieval world that is ignorant, violent, and dirty, and Browning followed him in displaying the middle ages. Thus Pound (1968b) stressed Brownings realistic presentation of thirteenth-century Italy and values Browning as the soundest of all the Victorians (p. 278), because his is the sole voice in 19th-century English literature. Under Brownings influence, Pound started to use Provene as a subject matter, trying to do what Robert Browning was doing with Renaissance Italy (Grieve, 1997, p. 64). He employed the Browningesque persona and experimented with the form of dramatic monologue to display medievalism in an objective way. Pounds medievalism was crucial to the development of his poetry for two reasons: (1) It gave him a subject matter; and (2) It led him gradually towards reality, not the self. This complicated transition occurs simultaneously with the interrelationship between Pound and Yeats, which will be elaborated in the following section.

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS

221

The Relationship Between Pound and Yeats


Unlike the relationship between Pound and Browning, the one between Pound and Yeats is complicated and is in no way unilateral. For Pound, Yeats poetics is based on a deep-seated resistance to technical innovation, to the search for new modes of expression or to any attempt to expand the arena of poetry by introducing into it any new subject matter. His whole art is a vision to combat and an edifice to resist all that is fragmentary in the modern condition. However, in Pounds opinion, the poet should embrace the fragmentary and never take it in a conservative and traditional way. The correspondence and dialogue between Pound and Yeats can be traced back to the late 1900s. They first met probably in 1909. Pound heard of Yeats from the latters tour in 1903, and in 1908 he sent Yeats a copy of A Lume Spento, and received word back that it was charming. As early as 1909 Pound and Yeats were talking seriously enough about poetry for one of their conversations to last five hours. Pound had a number of qualities that made him attractive to Yeats: (1) He was young, intelligent, acute as a critic and absolutely independent; (2) He had some claim to scholarship but none of the academics usual conservatism; (3) He was respectful to Yeats, whose work he admired, but never sycophantic; he was picturesque; and (4) Above all, he was serious about poetry (Stead, 1986, p. 13). Yeats had no need for Poundor rather, he had no obvious need. But he knew that in the eyes of the young he belonged to an earlier age. The establishment of Harriet Monroes periodical Poetry provides the first hard evidence of a working relationship between Pound and Yeats. Pound was then able to distinguish poems in the earlier manner and what he called the new Yeats. Pound himself was then in the process of shaping his own style. It is really a tough job to get a clear idea of his own style when facing various stylistic possibilities and to maintain objectivity towards his evaluation of Yeats poetry. At that time, Pound was greatly influenced by two menYeats and Ford Madox Ford, of which the former belonged to the past while the latter, or exactly the critical attitudes of the latter, is of the future. Fords conception that the new age called for a new style went deep into Pounds heart. Pound was encouraging Yeats to go against with the wishes of his admirers, to disappoint them in the interests of bringing that later Yeats into being. Indeed, Ezra Pound was a man with an extraordinarily accurate eye for the strength and weaknesses in the writing of his contemporaries. Yeats had moved from Pre-Raphaelitism into Symbolism; Pound was able to help him go still further and let him become a poet of the twentieth century. Yeats was bound by the limits set by himself and he could not free himself from the well-made poem, the isolated self-enclosed unit, into something of epic scope (Stead, 1986, p. 21). One of the improvements Pound made on the poetry of Yeats can clarify this point. Once Yeats wrote a poem called Fallen Majesty, which was about his lover Maud Gonne. When it was handed to Pound, it read as follows:
Although crowds gathered once if she but showed her face, And even old mens eyes grew dim, this hand alone Like some last courtier at a gipsy camping place Babbling of fallen majesty, records whats gone. The lineaments, a heart that laughter has made sweet, These, these remain, but I record whats gone. A crowd Will gather and not know that through its very street Once walked a thing that seemed, as it were, a burning cloud. (Stead, 1986, p. 21)

222

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS In the last line, Pound deleted as it were because here it was an obvious filler, trying to make up the iambic

hexameter; and the uncertain tone of the poet weakened the beauty and splendor of Maud and hence weakened the whole effect of this poem. Seeing the revised version, Yeats was so angry and irritated that he insisted on the publication of the original poem. Though later he realized the improvement of Pounds version, he still would not accept that the last line could miss a foot. His later adaptation appeared:
A crowd Will gather and not know it walks the very street Whereon a thing once walked that seemed a burning cloud. (Stead, 1986, p. 22)

The difference in relation to stylist choice between the two poets shows the different literary attitudes of the two. It is partly a matter of poetic form and partly of what might be called poeticizing, and the two in this case are closely interrelated. Pound thought that the corresponding fault in Yeats subjectivity was a tendency to lapse into sentiment. Pound is recognized as an extraordinary force in the development of modern literature. His part in making Eliot and Joyce known is so crucial that it is almost conceivable that without him, neither of them would have been known at all. But with Yeats the case is quite different. Yeats, 20 years older and already famous, did not need Pounds help publicly. But privately he sought it. He put himself close to Pound, absorbing his influence, inviting, respecting and acknowledging his critical judgments, and knowing that in Pounds breezy, energetic, confident presence he breathed something of the new agesomething fresh, direct, practical, which his own poetry needed if it was to shake off the dimness and tentativeness of the 1890s and speak with a voice that would catch the attention of a new generation (Stead, 1986, p. 30). Pound was essential to that crucial stage in his development when Yeats returned to lyric poetry after his years with the Abbey Theatre. Yeats changing from a symbolist poet to a modernist one saw a historical development. To some extent in syntax, Yeats goes further along the path he had begun to take in the 1890s towards a vernacular norm. But he retains the traditional metrics and rhyme patterns, and the traditional modes, the poems dividing clearly into lyrics and narratives. Yeats and Pound were then at different direction of poetic intention. Yeats, though as genuine a poet had been attracted and touched by the poems of Pound, he just did not have the bravery and courage to conduct experiments and to innovate. Pounds personae, although they derive from Browning, have very little to do with Yeats masks. Pound treated his personae only as the technical devices and used them to redefine Poetrys mandate and to redirect the energies of the poem (Grieve, 1997, p. 77) while Yeats maintained that the mask is actually the link between himself and the outside world. Therefore in Pounds eyes Yeats belonged to an earlier time, and he could not make it new, could not produce what the present age called for. Yeats prodigious efforts to make colloquial modern speech fit the conventional line and rhyme patterns led often to supreme eloquence, but as often the labor showed that the eloquent and the merely labored appeared side by side in the same poem (Stead, 1986, p. 33). During these years when Pound was assisting Yeats and making Eliot known, he was also experimenting with and developing some devices and techniques for his own poetry composition. None of his poems of this period, taken alone, was destined to make the kind of impact that Eliots Prufrock did. However, Pound was more open, more public, less secretive, and less self-protective. His experiments were more various; and it was

THE MAJOR WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE INCUBATING PROCESS

223

not until he had conceived of the rag-bag of The Cantos, and more important perhaps, acquired Eliots method of aggregation and juxtaposition, that there would be a single structure capacious enough to house them all. In Steads (1986) opinion, their variety, together with that unique and therefore unifying energy that came distinctively from Pound the man, was an essential part of the historical drive towards what we now recognize as Modernism (p. 52).

Conclusions
At first, the paper has presented a microcosmic view of the incubating process of pounds early poetics and the formation of his early poetic style. Those effective elements in the process include the Provenal lyrical poems, popular ballads, Brownings dramatic monologues, Yeats Symbolism, and Old English poems. Pound absorbed different poetic concepts from all of them and transformed his poetry from the conventional Romanticism to the innovative Modernism. It is with such complex influences that Pound finally formed his early poetics. All these different cultural backgrounds and literature inheritance paved the way that Pound was going to follow in shaping his early poetics and his unique style and gradually led Pound into the grandiose palace of Modernism. A close examination of Pounds early poems has revealed an important fact that most of his early poems are based on his translations of the different cultural classics. That is to say, Pounds poetry is very closely related to his translation. In Pounds works, it is hard to distinguish his translations and poems. According to Pound, there is no clear demarcation between translation and literary creation; and translation is a stimulating agent for ones literary creation, especially for poetry writing. Pounds translation has stimulated and enforced his poetry and his poetics, and his poetry, in turn, has enhanced his translation. So Pounds poetics is basically a translation-poetics.

References
Abrams, M. H. (Ed.). (1986). The Norton anthology of English literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Apter, R. (1987). Digging for the treasure: Translation after Pound. New York: Paragon House Publishers. Browning, R. (1981). Pauline (Vol. 2). In P. John & J. C. Thomas (Eds.), The poems of Robert Browning. New Haven: Yale University Press. Grieve, T. F. (1997). Ezra Pounds early poetry and poetics. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press. Hollander, J. (1959). Versions, interpretations and performances. In R. A. Brower (Ed.), On translation, Harvard studies in comparative literature. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,. Kenner, H. (1987). The poetry of Ezra Pound. London: Faber & Faber. Pound, E. (1968a). The spirit of romance 1910. New York: New Directions. Pound, E. (1968b). Literary essays of Ezra Pound, 1954. T. S. Eliot (Ed.). New York: New Directions. Pound, E. (1973). Selected prose, 1909-1965. W. Cookson (Ed.). New York: New Directions. Pound, E. (2003). Poems and translations. New York: Literary Classics of United States, Inc.. Stead, C. K. (1986). Pound, Yeats, Eliot and the modernist movement. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd.. Stock, N. (1970). The life of Ezra Pound. New York: Avon Books. XIE, M. (1999). Pound as translator. In I. B. Nadel (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Ezra Pound. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 April 2013, Vol. 3, No. 4, 224-229

D
Marsela Turku

DA VID

PUBLISHING

Death of a Salesman, When Tragedy Meets the Modern Man

Aleksandr Moisiu University, Durrs, Albania

The most persistent criticism about the play Death of a Salesman (1949) concerns the issue of genre and its constituents: Is it a tragedy?! If yes, to what extend is it a tragedy? Miller himself considered the play to be the tragedy of the common man, as he presents his idea on tragedy as a genre and his idea of the tragic hero in his essay Tragedy and the Common Man (1942), but for a group of critics it is not a tragedy but to others and to the author, it is the tragedy of the man who tries to survive in the modern world by using archaic weapons. This paper briefly revisits the Aristotelian tragedy concept and modern theories, and stands on what are tragedy and a tragic hero. It aims at reading Death of a Salesman as a meeting point between (ancient) concept of tragedy with modern man and his way of seeing life, and briefly examines and explores the continuing disagreements among academics and by what criteria this play is a tragedy. Keywords: tragedy, modern man, Aristotle, tragic hero

IntroductionWhat Is Tragedy?
Tragedy is an achievement peculiarly in Greek. It was the first to perceive and gave it the splendour and the highness that we all know, throw the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. The philosophy of the human nature is implicit in the human speech, consequently in these tragedies, the result of inquiries done to the human nature which is bound up with evil and dark gods, tries to present the human being as it really is. The Greek tragedies were characterized by a sincere need to perceive the beauty the reality offered through clarity, calmness, and serenity. Their positive attitude towards the gloomy aspects of life somehow creates a magic atmosphere and illumining visions where beauty is transmitted only through truth and vice versa truth implies beauty.
A tragedy shows us pain and gives us pleasure thereby. The greater the suffering depicted, the more terrible the events, the more intense our pleasure. The most monstrous and appealing deeds life can show are those the tragedian chooses, and by the spectacle he thus offers us, we are moved to a very passion of enjoyment. (Hamilton, 1930, p. 229)

The reader is unable to explain this tragic pleasure. A number of scholars through the centuries have considered this conflicting feeling as the substructure of tragedy and fundamental element in the continuing of the genre. Just to mention, Aristotle called it pity and awe, and a sense of emotions purified thereby. For Hegel, it is the reconciliation between lifes temporary dissonances resolved into eternal harmony. For Schopenhauer, it is the acceptance in the fulfilment of the will, Thy will be done. For Nietzsche, it is the the reaffirmation of the will to live in the face of death, and the joy of its inexhaustibility when so reaffirmed (Hamilton, 1930, p. 230).
Marsela Turku, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Foreign Languages, Aleksandr Moisiu University.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN, WHEN TRAGEDY MEETS THE MODERN MAN

225

The play Death of a Salesman (1949) has raised a lot of debates and criticism through the years for its themes, whether or not it is a tragedy, the place it occupies in the American Drama, its pathos and impurities, for the downfall of its hero, etc., but what has been one of the most discussed issues of the play is its genre, some critics claim that it is a tragedy, others classify it as a social drama, while others consider it neither as a tragedy, nor as a social drama, but a pure Broadway production. This paper aims at reading Death of a Salesman as a meeting point between (ancient) concept of tragedy with the modern man and his way of seeing life. Miller himself, dared to explain and explore the reason and his personal viewpoint on tragedy of Tragedy and the Common Man (1949), although a number of scholars have criticized Miller and his ideas on tragedy. However, in the character of Willy Loman, Miller transcends Aristotles notions of the tragic hero and expands on them with his own ideas of what creates a truly moving character and an emotionally rich play who has been able to surpass cultural borders and generations.

Aristotles Poetics vs. Millers Tragedy and the Common Man


In this age few tragedies are written. [] For one reason or another, we are often held to be below tragedy, or tragedy above us. The inevitable conclusion is, of course, that the tragic mode is archaic, fit only for the very highly placed, the kings or the kingly, and where this admission is not made in so many words it is most often implied1. (Miller, 1949, pp. 3-7)

Miller begins his essay Tragedy and the Common Man by asserting that there are no more tragedies and the modern man could not fit the archaic tragic mode, although he strongly believes that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were (Miller, 1949, p. 3) by referring to modern psychiatry which bases its analysis upon classic formulations, such as Oedipus and Orestes complexes. Miller also claims that the tragic feeling is evoked when we are presented with a character that is even ready to give up his own life to secure personal dignity or his rightful position in the society. The main character in the Death of a Salesman, Willy, is a product of Millers ideas and embodies that the common man can be a tragic hero and he must be the modern tragic hero, the one who fits to the modern tragic mode. Thomas E. Porter claimed that:
Willys status in society, his family background is typical; even more of a type is Willys identity as a Salesman. He is a product of a producer-consumer society in which the go-between is a pivotal figure. Society has labeled him, and Willy has accepted the label; society has offered Willy a set of values and an objective, and Willy has committed themselves to those values and that objective [] He has been shaped by a society that believed steadily and optimistically in the myth of success, and he has become the agent and the representative of that society. (Martine, 1976, p. 29)

If we revisit chapter six of the Poetics, Aristotle presents the core of his poetic doctrine and aesthetic theory. He defines the purpose and essence of tragedy as:
The imitation of an action which is serious, complete in itself and of a certain magnitude; in language which is embellished with artistic ornaments; in a dramatic not a narrative form; with incidents which arouse pity and fear and accomplishing the catharsis of these emotions2.

Arthur Miller, Tragedy and the Common Man from The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller (Viking Press, 1978, pp. 3-7). Copyright 1949, Copyright 0 renewed 1977 by Arthur Miller. Reprinted by permission of Viking Penguin, Inc.. Retrieved from http://theliterarylink.com/miller1.html. 2 Cited from the Project Gutenberg ebook of Poetics, by Aristotle. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1974/1974-h/1974-h.htm.

226

DEATH OF A SALESMAN, WHEN TRAGEDY MEETS THE MODERN MAN He qualifies the six component parts of a tragedy: plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and choral

music, and emphasizes the unity which these component parts must preserve to ensure the unity of the organic whole. According to Aristotle, another important element is the plot the soul of a tragedy. The plot is the first and most important thing in tragedy3 and it should have a beginning, middle, and end, that all parts follow each other in concise fashion, the parts should not be episodic in which the episodes or acts succeed one another without probable or necessary sequence4, thus we must confine ourselves to the actions on the stage (Perry, 2012). Millers play fits this entire principle on the complex plan, simply explained that we have a beginning where the hero is a successful salesman with a happy family, a middle where our hero loses his job and goes through the unsurprising struggles and realities of being a salesman, his family discovers that Willy is not the perfect father but has his character flaw, and a classic tragic end wherein our hero dies. The sequence of Willy Lomans life is indeed probable and all parts are necessary to the wholeness of the play. Aristotle defines the hero as a man not outstandingly good and just whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity but by some error of judgment5 []6. In this definition, the Aristotelian ethical principle of character and choice becomes evidentthe character of a man may be adjudged by the choices he makes and to illustrate his poetic doctrine Aristotle cites a number of Greek tragedies as well as the Iliad and the Odyssey. In Sophocles Oedipus the King (420 BC.), he finds the greatest number of illustrative virtues and the highest degree of dramatic competence.
Willy Loman displays a number of qualities of which Aristotle would consider to be that of a tragic hero, he encompasses harmatia which takes form in his foolish pride, and dreams he could not accomplish. Throughout the play it is pointed out to the reader that Willys foolish pride has led to the failure of achieving his dream as well as financial imbalance. Pride leads Willy to shield himself in delusion rejecting any blame that could fall upon him and constantly blaming others for all that goes wrong in his life. By blaming others Willy is never able to see his errors and correct them (Jozzoms, 2012) Willy, also can be seen to fit with the idea of Peripeteia7 His fortunes reversed as he starts the play in a position in which he still has a job, has some respect from his family and is hoping to see his sons start a business together and see them finally make a success of themselves. His eventual death is also tragic, in the fact, he, the salesman, sells his life in order to make his life worth living. He feels that in death he is worth more than in life, and so sacrifices himself (Jozzoms, 2012)

Does Willy have Anagnorisis? Unfortunately, up to the end, he is blinded by his pride and the archaic attitude to the modern business world, and by constantly mistaking material benefits for spiritual benefits. At the end of the play, it is his son Biff who experiences the moment of enlightenment and understands the miscalculation of his father and promises that his dreams would not go in vain.
Cited from the Project Gutenberg ebook of Poetics, by Aristotle. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1974/1974-h/1974-h.htm. 4 Cited from the Project Gutenberg ebook of Poetics, by Aristotle. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1974/1974-h/1974-h.htm. 5 Italics are the authors. 6 Cited from the Project Gutenberg ebook of Poetics, by Aristotle. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1974/1974-h/1974-h.htm. 7 According to Aristotle, the tragedy is centered on the heroes fall from his initial high status, in a reversal of fortune. Aristotle named this term Peripeteia. This fall from grace would be brought about by the heros fatal flaw. This fatal flaw led to the series of events in which the heros demise would occur called Hamartia. The hero of the play eventually suffers a moment of insight, where he realises what he has done and gains a new perspective on the truths of human existence. This moment of enlightenment is called Anagnorisis.
3

DEATH OF A SALESMAN, WHEN TRAGEDY MEETS THE MODERN MAN

227

The key idea to Aristotelian tragedy is its tragic hero: man who enjoys prosperity and a high reputation. However, Willy does not belong to high social rank, nor is he of noble origin, thus, according to Aristotles views on tragedy, Willy does not have a high position to fall in, neither a fortune to be reversed, and for these reasons he is not qualified to be a hero of tragedy. Miller states in his essay that the common man can be subject to tragedy and through Willys character he gives life to a new tragic hero that of the common man who faces struggles most might encounter. The common man and situations such as those depicted in Death of a Salesman are those which the common man can relate to a large number of people and is more effective in arousing pity in the audience, as they identify him and his struggles with themselves. Willy, like many Americans, had his own interpretation of what the American dream is and how to fulfil it; he tries to accomplish it, however, fails miserably, as many others had done before him, and others are about to do after him. As Miller (1949) stated in his essay:
The quality in such plays that does shake us, however, derives from the underlying fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what or who we are in this world. Among us today this fear is as strong, and perhaps stronger, than it ever was. In fact, it is the common man who knows this fear best. (pp. 3-7)

The Modern Tragic Hero


It is obvious that the idea on tragedy has escaped its classical generic determination in Aristotles Poetics and had expanded into the role of an intellectual concept of astonishing amplitude and the culmination came in Nietzsches Birth of Tragedy (1872). He claimed that tragedy arose as artistic energies which burst forth from nature herself, without the meditation of the human artists (Nietzsche, 1993, p. 38). For Nietzsche, the incarnation of the tragic is the mythic figure of Dionysus who personifies the eternal and original artistic power that first calls the whole world of phenomena into existence (Nietzsche, 1993, p. 143). Nietzsches work presents the tragedy as a battle of creative energy against the world of reason and the human beings that inhibit these tragedies are left alone with a feeling of alienation and despair in facing death. In contrary to Nietzsches attitude, Miguel de Unamuno, in his Tragic Sense of Life (1913) did not refer to tragedy as a literary genre, but rather he sees it as a complexity of things which springs from the conflict between human nature and social reality. He believes that changes in science and technology are reflected into human reasoning, and in addition these developments manifest themselves in consciousness. He claims that consciousness depends on memory and memory is bridging gap between the past and the present, between the present and the future, between what we have lost and what we actually have; and these memories do not necessarily have to be happy or joyful ones: No one has ever proved that man must necessarily be joyful by nature (de Unamuno, 1913, p. 22). Although tragedies throughout history have usually kept within the boundaries of what are deemed conventional and the parameter set out by Aristotle, parameters of tragedy until the Elizabethan times, and Shakespeares attempt at adopting the genre to the literary period and the audiences interest by breaking some of them. Shakespeares Hamlet is a good example of how playwrights have attempted to break these constraints. Hamlet is not the nobility mentioned in the poetics, as he is not a King, or a Queen, but a Prince, and he is also seen as not having the fatal flaw that is necessary of a tragic hero for his tragic doom. His irresolution is generally seen as being the missing flaw; however, the author strongly believes that it is not a flaw but a device, as:

228

DEATH OF A SALESMAN, WHEN TRAGEDY MEETS THE MODERN MAN


Shakespeare is trying to make Hamlet a morally reflective and very insightful character, showing his attempt at morphing the genre of tragedy to be more relevant to his era. This can be seen as in his time, the audience was more interested in seeing moral conflict on the stage then a simple fall from grace. However, Shakespeare still embraced the majority of the poetics, and there is still a moment of insight and a purging of the audiences emotions presented in the play.8 (Miller, 1949)

Others have tried to reinvent the genre after Shakespeare, but have not gone too far from the conventional form. Steinberg (1969) believed that the modern drama of the 20th century should expose the common man and compare it to the tragic figures of the past. He also supported Millers idea that the classical tragic archetypes should be brought in a modern context: As the twentieth century approached, various sources were making for realism in drama with its emphasis on people and situations drawn from ordinary life (Steinberg, 1969, p. 81), because realism breeds proximity and the closer to the real world the more will the public sympathize with the characters and affect them, as it is described in the Aristotelian sense, by invoking both panic and empathy (in original phobos and eleos) when characters are brought into utter despair. To fit with the modern frame of thought, and to make it more relevant to the modern audience, Miller uses more modern approaches such as the ideas of alienation, modernization, and themes such as capitalism, diffusing dreams with reality, displacing a human being from his chosen image, the conflict between human nature and social reality, etc.. Miller (1949) stated that:
Our lack of tragedy may be partially accounted for by the turn which modem literature has taken toward the purely psychiatric view of life, or the purely sociological. If all our miseries, our indignities, are born and bred within our minds, then all action, let alone the heroic action, is obviously impossible9.

Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman dares to break the archaic Aristotelian pattern, pushing the boundaries of what we considered to be the norm, changing from what has always been the ideals of tragedy and to some extend, it has been claimed as the critical reinvention of the tragic genre mainly through his hero. Furthermore, de Unamuno (1913) strongly believed that tragedy and tragic are inseparable comrades to the human being and to his identity: Man, because he is man, because he possesses consciousness, is already, in comparison to the jackass or the crab, a sick animal. Consciousness is a disease (p. 22), thus, for de Unamuno, the consciousness possesses no time reference, it is deeply rooted in mens character and that is why tragedy and tragic are within the human being, disregarding his social rank, consequently the failure of this common man is the tragedy of any man.

Conclusions
The majority of the critics focus mainly on the fact that Willy is not a man who enjoys prosperity and a high reputation, he is not a King and his actions do not affect a large number of people and he does not have the potential to achieve greatness, and according to Aristotle, the tragedy should be centred on the heroes fall from his initial high status, in a reversal of fortune. However, we should not forget the fact that in the 20th century, the influence of the Kings and their alike is dim, shapeless, and diffuse. Their fall may and does not provoke the same reaction, they do not have the same potential to achieve greatness as they used to have in the Aristotles time, thus
8 9

Retrieved from http://lozzoms.hubpages.com/hub/Tragedy-and-the-common-man. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-common.html.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN, WHEN TRAGEDY MEETS THE MODERN MAN

229

catharsis is harder to attain. Miller addresses his tragedy to the 20th century people who struggle with alienation, modernisation, and the capital societies; he addresses to those people who, at the end of the month, have to pay the mortgage, the bills, to teach their children the right values to successfully deal and survive in the capital society, to secure economic stability to his wife and children and of course happiness to them, and the realization of the American Dream to his neighbours eyes and society. How many people do the same everyday, every year, and every generation?! The answer is a lot of us, the majority of us, not only in the USA but everywhere; we fight, struggle, and if we are lucky, we may survive; and if we are not we have the same tragic end as Willy. It is time, I think, that we who are without kings took up this bright thread of our history and followed it to the only place it can possibly lead in our timethe heart and spirit of the average man (Miller, 1949, pp. 3-7), because he is the only one who can deeply affect our consciences.

References
Aristotle. (2008). The poetics of Aristotle. (S. H. Butcher Trans.). Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=3274703 de Unamuno, M. (1913). Tragic sense of life. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.. de Unamuno, M. (1972). The tragic sense of life in Men and Nations. (A. Kerrigan Trans.). Princeton: Princeton University Press. Hamilton, E. (1930). The Greek way. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Inc.. Jozzoms. (2012, March 12). Tragedy in Death of a Salesman In HubPages. Retrieved from http://lozzoms.hubpages.com/hub/Tragedy-in-death-of-a-salesman Martine, J. J. (1976). Critical essays on Arthur Miller. Bosston: G. K. Hall & Co.. Miller, A. (1949). Death of a Salesman. New York: Viking Press Inc.. Miller, A. (1949, February 27). Tragedy the common man. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-common.html Miller, A. (1978). Tragedy and the common man. The theater essays of Arthur Miller (pp. 3-7). New York: Viking Press. Retrieved from http://theliterarylink.com/miller1.html Morgan, F. (1979). Review of Death of a Salesman. In J. J. Martine (Ed.), Critical essays on Arthur Miller. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co.. Nietzsche, F. (1992). Basic writings of Nietzsche. W. Kaufman (Trans. & Ed.). New York: Random House Inc.. Nietzsche, F. (1993). The birth of tragedy. S. Whiteside (Trans & Ed.). London: Penguin Edition. Perry, J. (2012, October). The extents to which The Death of a Salesman is an Aristotelian tragedy. Retrieved from http://www.joelperry.com/2007/02/the_extents_to_which_the_death.html Porter, E. T. (1979). Acres of diamonds: Death of a Salesman. In J. J. Martine (Ed.), Critical essays on Arthur Miller (pp. 24-43). Boston: G. K. Hall & Co.. Shattuck, R. (1996). Forbidden knowledge: From Prometheus to pornography. New York: St. Martins Press. Steinberg, M. W. (1969). Arthur Miller and the idea of tragedy. In R. W. Corrigan (Ed.), Arthur Miller: A collection of critical essays (pp. 81-94). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc.. Turku, M. (2011). The tragedy and the human being in Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman. Sarajevo: Burch University. Retrieved from: http://eprints.ibu.edu.ba/120/

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 April 2013, Vol. 3, No. 4, 230-241

DA VID

PUBLISHING

The Kingdom of Lettering: The Films Titles in the Early Years of Turkish Cinema
Nazl Eda Noyan
Baheehir University, Istanbul, Turkey

This paper explores the film title design in Turkish cinema with the aim of understanding the link between Turkish cinema and Turkish graphic design. It is carried through first with the interviews with producers, directors, title designers, and an extensive use of iconography and textual analysis has been made first between the title and the poster of the same film, and then the titles of the same period. The study focuses on the early period of Turkish cinema during a unique time of political, economical, and social change. In these years, the new Turkish Republic is born with very significant reforms such as the new alphabet. This has also been the time of the first fictional film, first sound film, and the first advertising agency and commercial poster in Turkish. The earliest title sequence that could be reached date back to 1932. From this year on, until the 1950s, which is named here as the early years of Turkish cinema, we see the kingdom of lettering where the typographic elements dominate the titles. During the kingdom of lettering, early Turkish film titles reflect the conditions of the time in terms of film production and the changing society. The paths of Turkish cinema and graphic design seem not to be fully crossed yet; nevertheless we witness the birth of a new visual form and a new nation in these titles. Keywords: film titles, Turkish cinema, graphic design, typography

Introduction
When the author was a graphic design major at the university, she was blown away by the titles of the crime thriller Se7en (1995) by David Fincher. It was graphic design immersed in film. It was typography and motion in harmony, experimental, and groundbreaking. The author had discovered a new path in her profession. Years later, the author developed an interest for Turkish cinema and she wrote her masters thesis on Turkish melodrama posters (1999). Then one day the author came across the title sequence of an action film from the 1970s and this time she was blown away by the title design. It was made up of well-crafted photo collages with simple but yet surprisingly innovative and very dynamic visual effects. Could this be expected from Turkish cinema, could Turkish cinema do that? Moving images supported with graphic design has become one of the most inspirational and innovative areas of production of our time. The research that has been done on this subject generally discusses the technological dimensions of the film titles or leading non-Turkish film title designers. Because of the limitation of written sources and visual archives, the author developed her study with interviews made with professionals
Nazl Eda Noyan, lecturer, Faculty of Communication, Baheehir University.

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

231

such as directors, producers, designers, and historians, who served Turkish cinema with different approaches and witnessed the process of film title production. The author also carried out her own archive research into film titles from different periods of Turkish cinema. The method used in this paper for analyzing the titles benefits from Panofskys (1983, originally published in 1939 in studies in iconology) iconography that he used to analyze art works. Mueller (2006) explained that visual analysis in mass communication and mass media research has in the past mainly been drawing on concepts originating either in the social sciences or in psychology; and the copious tradition of art history has not crossed this disciplinary line yet. On the other hand, van Leeuwen (2001, p. 101) showed the value of iconography by elaborating on examples of applying it to contemporary images. Panofskys (1983) iconographical analysis has three phrases: (1) pre-iconographic description: the works pure form devoid of any added cultural knowledge; (2) iconographic analysis: the relationship of visual elements with each other, figure-ground, hierarchy, style, and the theme drawn from these; and (3) iconographic interpretation: personal, technical, and cultural understanding of a work; the symbolic meaning or the possible intended meaning created by the designer. Iconographical analysis as reformulated by van Straten (1994, p. 16) has one more phrase added: iconological interpretation: deeper meaning not explicitly intended by the designer.

Film Title as a Channel


By becoming clues leading to the atmosphere and visual character of the film, film titles have become an important area of the film industry in terms of their contributions to film narration and the experience of film watching. Film-title pioneer Bass (2001), who defined himself as a graphic designer and film director, considered film titles as a foreword that contributes importantly to the process of storytelling. For him, the opening credits are a preparation before the film and the end credits is a decomposition chamber in which the audience gets over the influence of the adventure. Is the film title really an interim period which provides the break away from reality or is it pointing at the unreal nature of the film itself? The film title can enter and exit the diegetic (belonging to the world of the movie) and the non-diegetic (not belonging to this world) environments. The traditional separation of film titles from the films field of narration occurs in two ways, which is also frequently observed in Turkish cinema: The titles are placed in a background independent from the film which is either a black or textured background; or the title is placed on the picture with superposing techniques. However, this is made in such a way that the title space and the pictures in the background do not seem connect to each other and they let us know clearly that it is disconnected with the films narration world. An argument, which Allison (2006) tried to prove the opposite of with examples, is in parallel with the prejudice that is also valid for the Turkish cinema. This argument is also many studies point of origin regarding film titles: The history of film titles gained creativity and innovation with the works of Bass; before him, the titles were inefficient and conservative. According to Allison, the history of striking film titles dates back even to the 1910s, nevertheless, considering the film title not only as a list of names, but rather an area of expression with different styles and techniques is first seen especially in the 1930s. The reasons Basss works are considered milestones in the film title design might be because he designed film titles as short films within themselves, his intense usage of rhetoric in graphic expression, or his success of forming an identity which spreads over all the components of a film (film poster, trailer, and even some parts of the film).

232

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

The Presence Arises From the Absence: The Kingdom of Lettering


In the analysis of Turkish film titles, technology appears before us as a significant point of origin since both cinema and graphic design are technology-originated channels. Karamustafa (1999) pointed out that: The development and transformation that graphic design, which is a communication medium, has gone throughout history show parallelism to the development of technological mediums (p. 82). Answering the question whether there is a breaking or turning point of design that gives service in the field of cinema and the way of its reflection in titles, Trker nanolu advocated a similar point to Karamustafa: As we mention breaking or turning point, it is the best to basically check technological change and opportunities and move forward from that point (as cited in Noyan, 2007, p. 48). Prior to 1895, cinema in Turkey emerged as a new technology and entertainment type in almost the same period with Europe. In the first samples we have of the earliest films, like the sample which narrates Austrian Emperors visit to Istanbul, we see that French and Ottoman letterings coexisted and elements such as frame was preferred as graphical component (see Figure 1). During those years, the shows were mostly prepared for the occupant forces in homeland and films were played under French inter-lettering. As the earliest professional attempt to apply graphic design in daily use, in 1909, the first advertisement agency Advertisement Collective Company, which can be accepted as a turning point for graphic design, was established in the ambiance of freedom ensured during the 2nd Constitutional Period. As an outcome of the failure to develop printing technology and tradition of commercial poster in the Ottoman, in topics such as charity foundations or theatre, there used to be more posters in Arabic letters. These were designs supported by ready-to-use illustrations or ornamented bordures. As if to draw attention to the cultural richness in Beyolu, Evren (1998) reminded that during the last days of Ottoman Empire, the handouts prepared for cinema shows were at times printed in six different languages (Romaic, Armenian, old Turkish, Hebrew, French, and English).

Figure 1. Inter-title example as the first film graphics from the times of Ottoman Empire. Source: Adapted from Sacha Film, Austria, 1917.

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

233

The market demand of new Republic grew parallel to the new applications emerged with the new developments in industry. Since there were not any Turkish design samples or experienced designers available, most of the earliest design products such as label, package, poster, etc., were copied from Western samples, which were during those ages a component of visual culture by calligraphers, lithographers, metal workers, and talented printers. While Turkish Republic was witnessing major reforms in 1928, new Turkish letters were ratified. As a reflection of the great political, economical, social liveliness, and changes throughout the 1920s, it was clear that Turkish graphic design was also caught with the excitement of Westernization. There was an increase in the number of social, cultural, and commercial posters that can be defined as modern. However, despite the emergence of new visual opportunities as an outcome of these changes, there was not an independent development of graphic design yet. The Alphabet Reform inevitably affected cinema as well. A film distributor and cinema theatre owner Cemil Filmer (as cited in alayan, 2004) narrated that the event negatively affected him, this decision, which was taken overnight, zeroed the value of old-lettered films and in the end he himself had to burn all the old-lettered film stocks. During those years, a great number of films were imported from America and Europe. Germans with Fritz Lang, Americans with Griffith and several other films stepped into Istanbul film market. As the audience watched these films, their visual taste became more sophisticated in both technical and artistic terms. Starting from 1923, Turkish inter-titles became prevalent. It is possible to assert that thanks to alphabet reform, Muslim Turkish people started to establish even closer relations with films. Parallel to the increase in sound cinema samples, inter-title era for Turkish audience came to an end. During the period of 1923-1938, cinema was not included at all in the cultural politics of the new Republic. alayan (2004) attributed the causes to the fact that cinema was not an independent sector then and since there was only one production company, there was not any competition and no market atmosphere where legal and financial regulations could be set. Nonetheless, starting from the early years of Republic, there was a heightened interest towards fine arts: The Academy of Fine Arts sent students to Europe for painting, sculpturing and music training as well as graphic design. According to Maden (1999) who stated that it would be unfair to deem that Turkish society lacked a cultural heritage or tradition from which it could build its art: The very same mistrust towards Turkish art and mentality is repeated in graphic design as well; instead of forming a unique identity by harmonizing strong aspects of traditional forms with modern sensitivity, by turning back on national sources Turkish graphic art is remodelled within ready-to-use pattern of the West. The world went through a financial turbulenceGreat Depressionin 1929 and protectionism of the state on economy started in Turkey. During the 1930s, Turkey went through a great social transformation with new revolutions and enactments. With regards to graphic design, in 1937 the Academy of Fine Arts exhibition and Florya posters were entitled to be the first artistic and professional posters prepared in academic environment. During the years of Second World War 1939-1945, although there was one sound film studio, which closely followed the standards of global film technology, until 1943 a period of stagnation was experienced since not even one single film was made (alayan, 2004). The importers focused more on American films; however, since the road to Europe was closed, films were dispatched to Turkey via Egypt. On the road, Egyptian films were also added into packages. These films, which were mostly melodramas, received great admiration from the public. Those films contributed greatly to the formation of Turkish cinema. This powerful impact brought with itself a

234

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

reaction as well. Criticized initially for injecting love of death instead of love of life, those Arabic films were censured by Inspection Commission from 1942 till 1957 on accounts of diminishing the love of Turkish language (alayan, 2004). This censorship necessitated the formation of a new type in Turkish cinema to replace the popular films. The songs in Egyptian films were translated into Turkish and dubbed by local singers. Since a new profitable opportunity was introduced to popular Turkish cinema, it was also influential in putting an end to Erturul-pek film monopoly. It was during this period that in addition to the emergence of a Turkish cinema that reflected Egyptian films, new filmmakers who adopted technical and aesthetic values of American and European films also came to the scene. Following the war, division of cinemas into budget-specified classes, discount tickets, public-day screenings, promotions such as distribution of a henpeck diploma to the audience in 1947 for Vedat rfi Bengs film Klbklar (Henpecked Husbands) are indicators of the facts that competition in cinema industry gained impetus and marketing strategies received greater significance. Despite all the negations caused by war, the Wealth Tax, 1939 dated Regulations on the Inspection of Films and Film Scenarios, cinema halls and audiences at this time showed 100% increase. In 1948, the first positive impact of the government was to decrease the tax on Turkish films, which resulted in an increased demand for Turkish films in Anatolian cinema halls, and inevitably a huge rise in the number of Turkish film productions and companies. Following the war, the improvement in the emotional state of society and economy, technological innovations, and availability of electricity and generators in Anatolia opened a new age for the cinema. Similarly an effect of industrialization attempts in Turkey was reflected positively in the field of graphic design as well. It can be seen that throughout modernization period the government was late to support cinema industry whereas it managed to back up the other branches of fine arts. While graphic design was promoted as an art branch, cinema developed as a separate commercial channel. So in the transition period from Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic, how were the reflections of above-mentioned data on Turkish film titles? Title sequences of six Turkish films produced in the early period of Turkish cinema have been analyzed to find the answers. The first title sequence analyzed is from the film Bir Millet Uyanyor (A Nation Is Rising Up) (Muhsin Erturul, 1932) (see Figure 2). One of the forerunners of war film titles with stars and flags concentrating on Turkish heroism and reflecting the common view of the agethe best films are the films of heroism narrating warthe aim is to make one feel that in those years when the excitement of struggle was still at its peak, the whole nation proudly shouldered the honour of Republic. Stars, which were included to typographic elementsalthough no other visual element was usedturned out to be a symbolic expression referring to crescent and star on Turkish flag once it united with the meaning of the film title. Besides, end titles, which were written in the same letters with opening titles but placed on a waving Turkish flag background, also support the aforementioned view. It was a common practice in those years to list the cast without giving surnames on the titles and posters. Artists and technical staff were referred with their first names or nicknames. During those years, Surname Law that banned Turkish families from using religious, social, familial, or nobility titles and instead introduced a second name common for each member of one family was not enacted yet. The little amount of credited technical staff may indicate the fact that the staffs were not that much eager to see their names on the film title or the ones preparing the film title were convinced that a small group was enough to show in the title.

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

235

Figure 2. Opening and end titles, Bir Millet Uyanyor. Source: Adapted from Erturul, 1932.

The second title sequence to be examined is from Aysel, Batakl Damn Kz (Aysel a Girl From Marshy Roof) (M. Erturul, 1934-1935). In this title, sequence is believed to be first written on cardboard by hand then filmed, there was no motion; transitions were made as fade-in and fade-out. There was not yet in-detail copyright warning, running title sequence and use of dotswhich were starting to emerge in samples abroadhowever, the capital lettered logo of film company at the end of title sequence was an indicator of the ownership and rivalry. Regardless of the monotonous, simple, and neutral form of title sequence, use of capital letters in the whole title might indicate that the contributors to the film were paid heeds in the title sequence and peoples attention would be drawn to these names thereby. lk Erakaln attributed the lack of surnames in the title sequences of that age to the possible failures in implementing Surname Law in its fullest sense (personal interview, Istanbul, April 3, 2006). The expression A Village Story came right after the title of the film and the word story here emphasized the fictitious style of the film hence enabled an actual promotion and introduction to the film by identifying the plot. Just like the mixed character of Yeilam which represented a production model and period in Turkish cinema, Turkish film posters were at first under the influence of German, French, and later Hollywood, Italy, Mexico, India, and Egypt film posters. During the early years of cinema in title sequences an outlook to abroad, in cinema posters and title sequences an imitation of foreign samples and influence of art and design movements like Art Deco were attracting attention. The first co-product and sound film of Turkish cinema stanbul Sokaklarnda (On the Streets of Istanbul) (Erturul, 1931, Turkey, Egypt and Greek co-production)its title sequence is not availableclearly bears the effects of geometric and simple style of Art Deco. It is also possible to assert that it had a distinctive influence compared to the film posters, which was mostly hand-produced by primitive techniques in the following periods (see Figure 3).

236

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

Figure 3. Poster, stanbul Sokaklarnda. Source: Adapted from Erturul, 1931.

The film titles of ehvet Kurban (Victim of Lust) (Erturul, 1940) with its illustrative and typographic characteristics reminding Art Deco graphic style is similar to aforementioned film poster and title of Kahveci Gzeli (Lady of the Coffee House) (Erturul, 1941) which was projected for the next year (see Figure 4). The dots and running title sequence employed are imitations of foreign samples too. In the 1930s, particularly in Hollywood films use of dots and Art Deco typefaces were prevalent. Hence, we can deduce that filmmakers were closely watching the foreign films and visual styles. The names, which were deemed significant, were indicated with contoured, sanserif letters and inter-titles were written with a font reminiscent of decorative handwriting and when a hierarchical distinction was enabled, a third font was used to show secondary artists. Background illustration and front information were contextually matched up. Throughout the film as well, the same typeface, which was coordinated with title sequence and sub-letterings, were employed. In illustrations, film characters were introduced to the audience as silhouettes. The connection between back and front stage that was visible within lettering and illustrations makes one feel that there was a conscious will in selection and design. In the poster, not the composition but rather the quality of illustration and the elements and symbols employed in reflecting the theme of the film enable us to state that title graphics were finer and better than poster graphics and illustrations of the film (see Figure 5). There is not a binding condition between poster and title sequence.

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

237

Figure 4. Opening titles, ehvet Kurban. Source: Adapted from Erturul, 1940.

Figure 5. Poster, ehvet Kurban. Source: Adapted from Erturul, 1940.

238

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA In the title sequence of Kahveci Gzeli (Lady of the Coffee House) (Erturul, 1941) with the expression

presents its fairy tale, the film establishes a connection with the world of fairies or in other words the imaginary world. The statement The events told in this story are inspired from a very old Turkish fairy tale can be seen in the very first film frame coming after the sequence was written in a decorative manner resembling hand-writing, hence, the epic influence was strengthened. The illumination of the lettering in title sequence and use of first names of the main artists supported the epic reflection. Although Surname Law was enacted in 1934, when the names were first written on screen, their surnames were missing which may be attributed to the fact that specific law was not thoroughly adopted yet or the aim might have been to reinforce epic reflection by omitting surnames and using given names or titles instead. This reference attributed to the fairy or imaginary world may be regarded as a reflection of the harsh years of war when the film was shot. In the title the expression that emphasizes songs composing the songs can be interpreted as the connection of cinema-an entertainment formwith music and perceiving it within this framework. Furthermore, the expression film composer in the title refers to film music; film shooter is the equivalent of cinematographer or cameraman. The word presents like introduces are the examples of an ownership certificate or signature. In fact, title sequence, which can be regarded as a whole indication of signature, may be indicator of the ownership of an art work just like the autograph put on the right bottom of paintings. The signature, which indicates ownership, can also be viewed as blessing the work. This blessing at the same time functions as a value adder yet signature also means responsibility and it exposes the name in charge. The explanation of the word Turkish on the specific poster is related to the abundance of Egyptian films on cinemas during that period and the misleading visuals on film poster (Gr, personal interview, Istanbul, November 26, 2007). An example to the differences title sequence created in technical sense is Fato/Ya stiklal Ya lm (Fato, Either Freedom or Death) (Turgut Demira, 1949). In this sequence, the title of film company And appears as a motion visual effect appearing and vanishing from the bottom to the top. Besides, the bomb that explodes at the very moment film title appears on the sequence is backed up with a bomb noise effect which strengthens the moment company name appears. In this form, it is possible to say that title sequence was taken into consideration and the movie was designed in a way to appeal to the audience technically and contextually. Instead of harsh and bold letters that remind of war, typeface selection is feminine, softer and more emotional. That way, background images like tent, bridge, explosion, fire, smoke, etc., are softened. It is possible that such emasculation made it possible to achieve a connection with the female audience by underlining the love story and romance in the film. In film poster, music and film agent and director, which were, the titles used in sequence can be seen. The music and film director were in the same hierarchy. Andlike the title sequenceappears on the poster too with its logo. All together, they prove the fact that company title and the meaning attributed to music in titles are not coincidental. In the title sequence of Vurun Kahpeye (Strike the Whore) (Ltfi . Akad, 1949), motion effect was performed only via page-turning jest. The arrangement in the beginning title sequence, typography, effects, and detailed credits leave an impression that title sequence was emulated. Aside from the fact that it was a novel adaptation, the title sequence speaks it aloud that main character is an intellectual teacher and the film is centered on education. Regarding the expression national novel and page turning action, nanolu (as cited in Noyan,

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

239

2007) asserted that it is not a must to have read the scenario to prepare poster or title sequence but in order to use in design, it is necessary to know something about the film, to feel its ambiance. He also added that in the past, designing the title sequence of a novel adaptationlike the famous writers of the age Muazzez Tahsin Berkant or Kerime Nadirlike the pages of a book would lead the audience to have an experience parallel to the film of a literary work. Needless to say that in addition to reinforcing the context of film, this approach also adds a dynamic and distinctive ambiance to the title sequence, which could otherwise be quite monotonous. The film poster does not have a graphical connection with title sequence. However, it is interesting to note that although the name of designer was written on poster, title sequence designer was not mentioned in detailed credits. However both seemed to be the products of a meticulous practice.

Conclusions
We have limited numbers of film copies belonging to the early years of Turkish cinema. Based on this restriction, it is quite difficult to make interpretations regarding that age since title sequence and sound tracks of available old films are lost or damaged. Therefore, some of them have been remade and composed of false data (Scognamillo, personal interview, stanbul, November 8, 2006). Title sequences we discussed hereby are samples of films with a national character that emerged during the late 1940s and films that mostly appealed to low and middle class audiences. Based on the deduction of Kahraman (2004): The near history of Turkey is actually a visual one, because Turkish modernization initially started as a reality associated with vision, we can assume that cinema and visual culture are the components nourishing this reality. Within this context, it is possible to conclude that based on the symbols and expressions frequently shown in title sequences, cinema owns a structure driving national feelings and embracing public values. Furthermore, these credits tell a lot about the state of cinema industry in those times, such as the fact that cinema was viewed as a musical entertainment: As the credited names in film titles increased in number throughout the years and the musicians in particular were emphasized more. In the titles of this first period when typographic elements were fore-grounded, the common features are dark background, white lettering written by painters and the use of dots between artists names and the character they play. This dotted feature of title sequences that reminds a printed books context may be a feature transferred from book design to graphic design for cinema. In the early years title sequence was, in dry terms, just like a packagesimilar to the colophon -printing data and index of the book and son at the end. Opening titles were preferred, the word son (the end) indicating the final of film was considered important. Kurdolu asserted that the word son was preferred since during that period when cinematic narrative language lacked a wide consensus unlike today, it was hard to estimate where the film ended (personal interview, Istanbul, April 17, 2006). Aside from those, a very significant common point is that title sequences are composed of inactive, fixed images. Yet there is an attempt to activate this monotony by several methods. Amongst them are fade-in and fade-out in transitions and up-and-down sliding effects. Yurdaer Altnta stated that, earlier in the posters and title sequences typography was mostly hand written and sanserif typefaces were preferred for their applicability to hand use, and easiness was, rather than applicability to the film content, considered more (personal interview, Istanbul, March 8, 2006). However, motives like stars and several typefaces with symbolic references that could

240

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

reinforce the meaning were also popular. Related to the process in this period Tongu Yaar also stated that since until the 1950s there was no Letraset, title sequences were handwritten on cardboard and before shooting the film, since the directors only presented the names of players, team, team names and synopsis in hierarchy and it was called first or secondary cardboard (personal interview, Istanbul, March 25, 2006). Necip Sarcolu also mentioned that basically titles are the responsibility of studio where there are title sequence shooting and camera rooms. He also explained the dominant production process of titles as title sequence was first filmed as positive, then washed, made transparent and superposed over a background (personal interview, stanbul, April 6, 2006). Film title conveys graphic design elements such as type, colour, texture, etc.. But at the same time it conveys cinema elements such as sound and motion. It is not only a symbolic and aesthetic expression, but also a channel that has commercial and industry-specific necessities. Both design and cinema depend on good planning and rely on budget as well as technology. Both of them focus on the users/audiences. Even though the rational and functional structure of design continues in the area of film title, it moves towards a more abstract area that includes storytelling, dramatic elements and time. Film poster, film title, and DVDs are channels in which cinema meets the user, the function and what is concrete. In this period, there seems to be no conscious relation and consistency built between the film titles and film posters. It can also be said that the connection amongst the different divisions of labour within the film industry is week and the making and promotion of a film are not perceived and handled altogether. Yet, although the people making the titles and posters were not from design schools, nor they are well acclaimed graphic designers, the popular design styles such as Art Deco seems to grab the attention of and influence these labourers as well as the design school graduates. Turkish film titles form categories related to some of the film genres (national heroism stories, literary love stories, etc.) and the elements of design and symbolism related to these genres. Another classification in film titles may be possible according to their designers and typographic application techniques: The titles of the early years can be defined as Hattat, calligrapher titles where as the following periods can be classified as the titles of hand-drawn type and plastic letters by artists, caricaturists, and illustrators, and later titles of Letraset and photo typesetting by photographers, cameramen, technical staff, film editors, and finally digital lettering by designer and visual effect artists. Apart from going through phases with regard to timing, budget, and technology, the film titles in Turkish cinema developed in line with the division of labour in the production process, awareness for titles, the infrastructure of the designers and the film industry. Throughout this process and development, the previously anonymous film title designers became designers with names. The people who were making the film credits transformed into individuals who were in the film credits. Similarly, film titles developed as designs, which had a specific, original, and different identity that was not anonymous or indifferent. Due to the lack of time, technical and financial deficits, neglecting or ignoring the significance of title sequence within the film; title sequence could not perform its function as a warmer to the film atmosphere. Nonetheless all these negative conditions, in the following years as some of the analyzed titles also put forwardapplications that were, within the limits of technology, close to foreign samples and trials were conducted. In this context, what Esen Karol argued is meaningful: Its impossible to discuss the paintings of a country when we can not discuss concepts If there is an impasse, this is in general a cultural one (as cited in Tanyeli, 2007, p. 73). Overcoming the danger of creating similar designs and getting away from the ordinary are possible with the creation of strong concepts. Media planning, communication design, and design management

THE FILMS TITLES IN THE EARLY YEARS OF TURKISH CINEMA

241

enter the area of graphic design and cinema. Developments in these also change concepts and reshape film title design. While film title designer Wayne Fitzgerald describes the innovation attempts and the search in film title design, his words seem to summarize the adventure of the Turkish film titles: There were things that could be done with film; it was crazy not to do them (Billanti, 1982, p. 68). In this period of Turkish cinema that has been studied, the paths of graphic design and cinema have not fully crossed yet. Nevertheless, they were the creations of two newborn disciplines and a newborn country. Therefore, they were nave, sincere, curious, and eager to try. It seems that Turkish cinema and design have learnt from each other as well but still have a lot more to learn.

References
Allison, D. (2006). Novelty title sequences and self-reflexivity in classical Hollywood cinema. Retrieved from http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/20/novelty-title-sequences, html Bass, S. (2001). Bass on titles (Short 11 extacy) [DVD]. L.A.: Quickbands Networks. Billanti, D. (1982, May/June). The names behind the titles. Film Comment, 18(3), 68. alayan, T. A. (2004). Audience-film interaction and audience profile in Turkish cinema (Dissertation, Mimar Sinan University, Institute of Social Sciences, Film and TV Department, Film and TV Program, Istanbul). Evren, B. (1998). Beyolu in time (Beyolu Zaman inde) (Part 5) [TV Documentary]. Turkey: TRT. Helfand, J. (2001). Screen: Essays on graphic design, new media, and visual culture (pp. 119-123). New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Kahraman, H. B. (2004, May 6). Lessons from the illustrated history (Resimli tarihten dersler). Radikal Newspaper. Karamustafa, S. (1999). The last quarter century of graphic design in Turkey. In A. dekan (Ed.), The colours and forms of the republic. Istanbul: Tarih Vakf Yaynlar. Maden, S. (1999). The yesterday and today of the graphic arts (Grafik sanatnn dn, bugn). In A. dekan (Ed.), The colours and forms of the republic (Cumhuriyetin Renkleri, Biimleri). stanbul: Tarih Vakf Yaynlar. Mueller, G. M. (2006). The image is the message: A model for applying iconology in mass media research. International Communication Association Conference. Dresden. Noyan, N. E. (1998). Representing romance: An investigation of design and signification in the posters of Turkish melodrama 1965-1975 (Masters thesis, Bilkent niversitesi, Ankara). Noyan, N. E. (2007, August). History through film posters: Trker nanolu. Grafik Tasarm, 11, 46-49. Panofsky, E. (1983). Meaning in the visual arts. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press. Sacha Film. (1917). Austrian emperors visit to Istanbul. Austria. Tanyeli, U. (2007, May). Profil: Esen Karol. Arredamento Mimarlk, 5, 58-73. van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Semiotics and iconography. In T. van Leeuwen & C. Jewitt (Eds.), Handbook of visual analysis (pp. 92-118). London: Sage. van Straten, R. (1994). An introduction to iconography: Symbols, allusions and meaning in the visual arts. London: Routledge.

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 April 2013, Vol. 3, No. 4, 242-254

DA VID

PUBLISHING

DesignTowards a Creative Industry for the Latin American Reality*


Alejandra Elena Marinaro, Romina Alicia Flores
Universidad Maimnides, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The duty of educators and politicians is to find new policies and programs that should include creative industries such as designing, together with the teaching of new technologies to make it possible for a greater portion of the population to have access to this knowledge, which will enable it to be included in the job market. This type of training also means that the language of the educators will change .We need to develop a new multilinguistic, multimedia, and multidisciplinary conception oriented towards the learning activities of the student. Our goals is to transform multimedia design into an important creative industry in our region, we created Project Untitled at Universidad Maimonides. This is an artistic collective undertaking that includes teachers, directors, and students of the School of Multimedia Communication and Design. The goal of this project is to cooperate with learning paradigms in order to reach the quality that a true society of knowledge needs. Education is fundamental for the development of any nation, including the periphery countries, which can contribute a different point of view, and which, in this sense, can offer wider possibilities, precisely because these countries have the critical distance that, probably, core countries are short of. Keywords: education, interactive installations, interactive design, education, digital art, creativity, human resources

Introduction
Why Search for a New Design Methodology? As current demands become increasingly complex, it is necessary to redefine design almost completely: The wide spread use of digital technologies gave rise to important social changes, and has had a profound impact on this discipline. Design can no longer exist in isolation; it must now include financial and management tools and new technologies. Other issue to be considered is that of taking design to the production area, using budget planning and knowledge, or more directly, developing new sustainable businesses. All of these new areas and issues should be taken into account to ensure they do not work separate from the creation process. New design professionals should therefore not only focus on the interpretation of individual reality, but also on the social and institutional aspects, as well as on a new conceptual and tangible space.
*

Acknowledgements: To Daniel Lambr and Sandra Furelos PressEscuela de Comunicacin y Diseo Multimedial, Universidad Maimnides. Alejandra Elena Marinaro, master, School of Multimedia Design and Communication, Universidad Maimnides. Romina Alicia Flores, graphic designer, School of Multimedia Design and Communication, Universidad Maimnides.

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

243

In this sense, the current global scenario requires a shift in education paradigms, a stronger commitment of young students and a closer relationship with the issues of the society where the professional will work in the future. What Does the Education Paradigm Shift Involve? Education as we know it today should adapt to this new scene by introducing teaching methods that are more societal and democratic, resulting in preparing the student for a leadership role, while at the same time reducing the relevance of the traditional more linear model. The increasing academic offer and the diverse profiles of the students embarking on design-related careers stands in contrast to the professional skills that are expected from prospective graduates, that is to say, a professional that has strong communication/problem-solving skills and the ability to join both the creative and strategic elements in his or her works. Nevertheless, training a rational creator entails changes in the education structure, which means that education should offer new approaches based on real-world design experience, activities, and tools necessary for the student to understand the scope of action that will enable him or her to come up with feasible strategies. Within this context and due to the challenges that arise when faced with attempting to turn multimedia design into an important creative industry in our region, Proyecto Untitled (Project Untitled) was created at Universidad Maimnides. Project Untitled is a pedagogical and artistic joint collaboration that includes directors, teachers, and students of the School of Multimedia Design and Communication who, together with a group of invited artists, curators, biologists, engineers, and other professionals, seek to act as a mediator or link between education, arts, science and society by means of interactive design. Strictly speaking, the work team is made up of experienced teachers who have worked in a wide variety of professional fields and disciplines. Likewise, professionals involved in production activities related to knowledge and research are called to join the group of artists of this joint project. Therefore, and thanks to the interaction with other disciplines, the students, as they carry on with their studies, are able to incorporate knowledge useful for getting a critical and comprehensive view of current communication, enabling them to take an active role in the Latin American interactive design industry in the future. Ever since its creation, Project Untitled has actively participated in many art and design spaces through its avant-garde productions, creating artistic solutions to challenges arising from art and technology combined, and addressing design, public art, bio-art, robotics, interactivity, and video games among other issues.

Innovative Methods
The Latin American Reality For starters, we should analyze the design market in Latin America. The results shown by the World Design Survey 2010 carried out by the City Hall of Seoul, which collects interesting data on the main design activities of the seven nations of Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay) as provided by Professor Carlos Hinrichsen, Director of International Affairs of the Professional Institute DuocUC of the Pontificia Universidad Catlica de Chile. The report provides a general overview of the most important initiatives that are being developed in the region within the design industry.

244

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY In Latin America, when educational institutions started to teach design in a more systematic fashion (in

Brazil in the early 50s, later on in Mexico, and throughout the region by mid-60s), the training approach was quite experimental and detached from the economic, commercial, and business reality. Currently, as shown in the report mentioned above, this situation remains unaltered and there is agreement that the cause of this phenomenon may lie in the education paradigm, which other than just a slightly different approach, has remained practically unchanged during the past 40 or 50 years. Hence, we believe that the pedagogical approach to design should be modified. The level of development attained in the region and its inclusion to a globalized world would require that the quality of education be considered to be an essential factor in its social and economic development and, naturally, in its competitiveness in the global market. Based on the reports by the Comisin Interamericana de Desarrollo (Inter-American Development Commission), the bank Inter-American Development Bank (BID (Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo)) Latinoamrica has earned a reputation among investors and governments all around the world due to its economic recovery. If we take a look at the initiatives in connection with plans and policies aimed to encourage design in the region since 1995, we will see that: Since that year, Brazil has hosted its own design program: The Brazilian Design Program (BDP (Programa Brasileo de Diseo)). The BDP operates under the MCT (Ministry of Science and Technology) of the Brazilian Federal Government. This program is based on Brazils originality and creativity and is supported by a human resources infrastructure, which is, in turn, promoted by the industrys associates. Since 1972, the SEBRAE (Brazilian Support Service for Microenterprises and Small-Sized Enterprises) has provided sustainable support to design-related initiatives. Since 2004, Colombia has had its National Program for the Design Industry (Programa Nacional de la Industria de Diseo). This plan was developed and coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Development with the purpose of exposing small and midsize enterprises to the new forms of innovation and development by introducing integrated design strategies, including their production and network marketing, with the support of the government, the private sector, and international organizations. Since 2008, Mexico has taken on a systematic effort for defining or identifying a design plan called Design of a Design Policy in Mexico (Diseo de una Poltica de Diseo en Mxico). On April 23, 2008, the House of Representatives for the first time addressed the importance of having an ongoing Design Public Policy in Mexico and the benefits that could be derived from its implementation, such as job creation, productive enterprises, and a better quality of life. Since 2009, Uruguay has also started its own design plan known as the Competitiveness Improvement Plan (Plan de Mejora de la Competitividad). This Plan is intended to identify and improve cluster design with the participation of the public and private sectors. Costa Ricas National Development Plan (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo) was also established in 2009 by the Ministry of Culture of Costa Rica seeking to support small and midsize artistic and cultural enterprises within the design field taking into account the importance of this sector for the countrys economy.

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

245

Chile created its National Design Plan (Plan Nacional de Diseo) in 2007. In the case of Chile, it is worth pointing out that this country has the Chilean Design Companies Association QVID (Asociacin Chilena de Empresas de Diseo QVID) and holds the Chilean Design Prize, a biennial prize intended to promote design as a major factor in Chiles cultural and economic development. In 2003, Argentina created its National Design Plan aiming to highlight design as a key factor in industrial competitiveness and to raise company awareness of the advantages that come with incorporating design management. Prior to this, in 2000, the City Hall of Buenos Aires created the Metropolitan Design Center (CMD (Centro Metropolitano de Diseo)), a government agency dedicated to supporting the development of design-related industries, both technically and financially, using a support system intended to recover and strengthen the production framework comprised of small and midsize enterprises. During 2006, Buenos Aires was declared the first design city by the UNESCO. As far as educational institutions are concerned, the city has public universities, which are free, and privately-held universities, which scale up the systematic offer in the field of design. These programs and changes, along with the appearance of new projects based on design, have resulted in steady growth for the number of designers included in production activities, and in the strengthening of the media and culture. The number of students who enrolled into design programs has increased in the past few years, resulting in what is the highest enrollment rate since 2003. Design of Possibilities In the context analyzed above, some of the main challenges that global village dwellers in Latin America are faced with are: How to turn information into useful knowledge and how to encourage social learning processes. In fact, there is a new technological gap in the globalization process that classifies economies according to their capacity for generating, adapting, and spreading knowledge. This capacity is related to the type of society, its specialization possibilities for international competitiveness and the degree of flexibility of its rules and regulations. The creative industry could save the economy of Latin American countries through the creation of sustainable projects developed by qualified people. Even though there are several resources involved, human resources are the most valuable asset for completing these projects; this is why it is important to have an educational model that ensures that such gap is filled. In regards to the training of human resources and the role of colleges in technological innovation, it is important to note that if new talents are not adequately managed, societys intellectual assets will continue to be wasted, which could lead to a loss in the knowledge and skills that were acquired throughout years of great efforts and costs. Therefore, we should work on an in-depth educational model that can give students the possibility to access a global view of design including not only the existing means, but also the possibilities within the scope of action, i.e., to form cross-disciplinary groups for developing productions that can be rapidly transformed into actual undertakings, enabling the student to see the results of the growth of his or her own work.

246

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

Project Untitled, a Teaching and Artistic Joint Collaboration In order to satisfy the needs of a fast-growing and ever-changing market, the Universidad Maimnides created a course of studies based on pillars which will enable graduates to create their own products or services, as well as to approach the development of multimedia projects in a comprehensive manner, being qualified for acting as a guide and a link between the different multimedia areas involved in the process (programming, design, communication, business, and so on). Project Untitled is created in response to these needs as a pedagogical and artistic joint collaboration that includes directors, teachers, and students of the School of Multimedia Design and Communication who, together with a group of invited artists, biologists, engineers, and other professionals, seek to act as a mediator or link between education/science and society. Project Untitled is based on the notion that art or artistic works are, aesthetically speaking, another effective tool for developing the economy and improving the quality of life in the place where the involved actors live. Hence, this project offers a comprehensive approach to design focused on research, teaching, strategy-making, and among other factors, analysis of design in everyday life. Thus, students are trained to master various technological resources that are not exclusive protagonists in the creative physical environments where they participate, but rather, allies that aid students in creating and bridging the gap for abstract and tangible aspects. With the use of those tools, students have no limits when they start the creative process. More specifically, when creating these interactive works, the participants are interconnected and related to an actual aesthetic program and when multimedia is included in these works, break through passive and still perceptions. This is an essential aspect that becomes evident in these artistic collaborations. These artists can freely access a partial participation of the influence of others, which fosters the sense of cross-cooperation knowledge among students, teachers, and artists. As a result, the single artist ability to grasp the work from beginning to end is beyond reach expectation, calculation and reaction and determines the creative process1. In this joint work, artistic differences come together into a synthesis, which is more than merely the different education strategies combined; it is a pleasant open-ended set of movements. It is in this irreconcilable contradiction that the peculiar and attractive nature of teamwork lies. The work will never be perfectly finished, but it will continue to receive further interventions and changes that will break its hermetic state, placing the audience outside the safety of a non-critical passive state2. This teaching notion is not based on a principle never seen in the history of pedagogical models and it is not in conflict with the idea that an education system is a form of social technology intended to provide each individual and societies with symbolic tools only; but it pursues to improve old education techniques that (as it is to be expected due to the evolution of education) did not take into account social impact or, in other words, its final results did not stem from the education field.
Collective processCollective art from the perspective of the viewer (Colectivos en procesoArte colectivo desde la perspectiva del espectador). Retrieved from http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/newsInfo/newsID/2701/lang/3. 2 Collective processCollective art from the perspective of the viewer (Colectivos en procesoArte colectivo desde la perspectiva del espectador). Retrieved from http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/newsInfo/newsID/2701/lang/3.
1

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

247

The possibility to have an appropriate system that integrates education, interdisciplinary work, economy and social impact of the productions enables students to access a wide range of skills and techniques aiding them to grow on an ongoing basis. In fact, after years of joint work, the group of artists and teachers of Project Untitled incorporated biological elements to its productions, for which they invited scientists, artists, and researchers of the area. This group led the way in the development of bio-art works in Argentina. Bio-art is an artistic genre that involves scientific and technological aspects and features of techniques and procedures of the biological sciences using living organic material, such as cells, bacteria, or plants. The purpose of these productions is merely artistic; however, ethical, ecological, and disclosure matters come into play within this aesthetic framework. As far as the creative process is concerned, bio-art and technological art presuppose a new way of teaching: Both linking and breaking an essentially oral tradition focused on the teacher to give rise to a new multilinguistic, multimedia, and multidisciplinary approach oriented to learning activities to be performed by the student. Such work model, together with the rest of the students training, enables them to create their own software for solving non-traditional issues in pursuit of a scientific goal that, regardless of their artistic use, may become a business solution in the future. Below there is an analysis of some works that the group of artists has developed up to now, including pedagogical challenges taken on, conceptual approaches and the professionals invited to participate in each case: Dialahogando (2006). Format: Interactive installation. Pedagogical challenge: (1) Analysis of the relations of power in contemporary society; (2) Sociological approach to relations of power. Conceptual approach: The subject-matter shown in the video installation introduces the conflict related to the concept of power, identity, and communication. The work is intended to respond to a deep conflict of an asynchronous society, interpreted as a unit and its members, as atomized elements. Dialahogando is a system made up of individuals locked up in their institutionalized and systematized reactions (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Drowing-dialogue (Dialahogando).

248

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY Invited professionals: Gabriela Golder, Dir (Digital Artist/Cinematographic Director). Exhibition places: Festival Cultura y Media, Centro Cultural General San Martin, Buenos Aires. Mquina de lluvia (2008). Format: Installation. Pedagogical challenge: (1) Causes of the Industrial Revolution; (2) Mans motivation for replicating natural phenomena; (3) Models of mechanisms activated with gears; (4) Modernism trends in art; (5) Research on engine and hydraulic pump technology. Conceptual approach: Mquina de Lluvia (Rain Machine) studies natural phenomena based on mechanical

means and focusing on creation. Nature is reinterpreted by the machine as some kind of mechanical double for nature. Thus, natural and artificial coexist in the core of this big mechanism. Rain falls continuously through hydraulic and mechanical systems. In spite of the fact that the mechanical part is at the bottom of the source of the rain, the rain is still rain, making nature the center of attention (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Rain machine (Mquina de lluvia).

Invited professionals: Mariela Yeregui, Mg. (Digital Artist) Exhibition places: Muestra Naturaleza Intervenida, Centro Cultural Recoleta, and El agua en sus diferentes manifestaciones artsticas, during the 200th anniversary celebration, AYSA (Palacio de las Aguas), Buenos Aires. Incubaedro (2008). Format: Interactive installation. Pedagogical challenge: (1) Knowledge of the form of reproduction of jungle orchids; (2) Research on the flora of the jungle of Misiones, Argentina (selva misionera); (3) Programmable logic controller (PLC (Controlador lgico programmable)) programming technologies; (4) Technological development for building large-scale sustainable geometric structures; (5) Interrelation between engines and actuators activated by sensors; (6) Research on programming for operating sensors. Conceptual approach: Incubaedro is an interactive geometric reality where an artificially constructed nature works, similar to that found in a scientists cognitive structure, to recognize nature standards and to get it to survive by artificial means.

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

249

When placed between the minimum distances existing between natural sciences, human imagination can discover what is vaguely observed. The distance between technology, science, and art today reaches those dimensions, where the complexity of a natural system is contained in a great geometric structure system. Thus, Incubaedro represents one of the paradigms of change that human beings can test in nature. Processes worthy of the magical alchemy of other times are applied both in art and in science (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Incubaedro.

Invited professionals: Joaqun Fargas, Eng. (Digital Artist); Nora Mouzo, Ph.D. (Biologist). Exhibition places: Muestra Naturaleza Intervenida, Centro Cultural Recoleta and Centro Municipal de ExposicionesFase1, Buenos Aires. Floris Lupus (2010). Format: Interactive installation. Pedagogical challenge: (1) Visual and noise pollution in big cities; (2) Consequences of the destruction of nature; (3) PLC programming technologies; (4) Technological development for mechanism automation; (5) Research on engine technologies; (6) Research on light-emitting diode (LED (diodo emisor de luz)) lighting and fiber optic technologies; (7) Robotic structure development analysis. Conceptual approach: Floris Lupus seeks to represent the thin line existing between human intervention and destruction of nature, regardless of the intentions. This flower is the societys blossom. A bloom of history, of context, of the natural condition of mankind, where the wild shows freedom and beauty at first glance, but if we take a closer look, it poses an existential crisis and rejection. There is a duality, a conflict of states, a change that invites us to reflect on society and its natural context (see Figure 4).

250

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

Figure 4. Floris Lupus.

Invited professionals: Nora Mouzo, Ph.D. (Biologist); Alberto Varela, Eng.. Exhibition places: Centro Cultural Borges, UNIART (Primera feria universitaria de Arte, Diseo, Turismo cultural y Artesanias)First university exhibition of art, design, cultural tourism, and craftwork, hosted by the Ministry of Education of the Argentine Republic, Buenos Aires; chosen by UNIART Contemporary Space of Alternatives of the University of La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. Late (2010)Kosice Biennial Prize to artistic research. Format: Interactive installation. Pedagogical challenge: (1) Knowledge of the different assisted reproduction methods, (2) Research on the technologies used in these reproduction methods, (3) Technologies for image projection on transparent objects, (4) Research on the evolution of human pregnancy and other mammals gestation, (5) Programming and development of projection devices. Conceptual approach: Assisted reproduction is the main subject-matter of a work that seeks, above all, to stimulate observation and to intentionally show its consequences. The observer participates in a natural process just by observing (always knowingly and aware) he or she causes changes in what is observed (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Beats (Late).

Invited professionals: Marcela Barrios, M.D.; Noelia Leopardo, Biologist; Carlos Antonelli, M.D.; Florencia Nodar, M.D.. Exhibition places: Muestra Extinciones, Centro Cultural Recoleta and Bienal Kosice, Galeria Objeto (), Buenos Aires.

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY Edenia (2010). Format: Interactive installation. Pedagogical challenge: (1) Visual and noise pollution in big cities; (2) Consequences of the destruction of nature; (3) Electronic waste as raw material; (4) PLC programming technologies; (5) Technological development for mechanism automation; (6) Research on engine technologies; (7) Research on LED lighting and fiber optic technologies; (8) Robotic structure development analysis. Conceptual approach: The human beings depend on their memory.

251

With each gesture, the creator leaves behind what he or she creates; only visionaries are able to see beyond, they can go back over their own steps and pick up those remains, those portions of the recent past. Memory involves moving forward, keeping it is basic to overcome time. Memory is surviving. Thus, Ednia aims to show a post-war scenario, a dystopia that becomes increasingly evident day by day. This reality, where natural is corrupted by transgenic, and robotics intends to emulate reality standing against each other, gives rise to new ways, to new points of view. This is also why this work is an imaginary shelter from life after life and from what comes after everything was destroyed (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Edenia.

Invited professionals: Fabin Nonino, Scenographist; Masao (Artist); Nora Mouzo, Ph.D. (Biologist). Exhibition places: Festival Cultura y media, Centro Cultural General San Martin, Buenos Aires. Experiencia CLAEMLatin American Center for Advanced Musical Studies of the Torcuato Di Tella (CLAEM (Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales del Torcuato Di Tella)) (2011). Format: Sound interactive installation. Pedagogical challenge: (1) Sound experience; (2) Recreating an experimental scene for catching the audiences attention through the Movimiento Di Tellas experimental music of the 70s. Conceptual approach: Music as ethereal art joins the chromatic circle in a playful endless fusion. Experiencia CLAEM invites us to be a part of the creation process as interactive observers. Experimentation

252

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

is the conceptual basis for this installation that replicates the spirit of the artistic movement promoted by Di Tella during his time (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. Experiencia CLAEMCentro LatinoAmericano de Altos Estudios Musicales.

Invited professionals: Ricardo Hegman, Master Musician Exhibition places: La msica en el Di Tella, Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires.

Conclusions
This section is intended to sum up the main issues of this paper, it is not about replicating the abstract as a conclusion. Conclusions should focus on the importance of the work (or expressed ideas), further suggesting its uses and possible extensions. As explained above, design teaching should be a gradual process, an ongoing challenge for acquiring different skills (creative, cognitive, or experimental). Therefore, taking design as an activity performed through creative and strategic thinking establishes a direct relationship with the expansion of this discipline, taking into account management and planning aspects as necessary knowledge for the designers professional growth due to the corporate need to incorporate creativity, innovation, and research as competitiveness tools. Our pedagogical approach seeks to form a multidisciplinary work team for teaching design offering new professional profiles in order to meet current and future societal needs, either of the industrial or cultural sector. In this framework, and as pointed out before, Project Untitleds initial intention has been to develop various strategies for enabling students to address artistic productions comprehensively, i.e., taking a role that makes them a part of the whole creative process involved in those productions. Teachers and education authorities should focus on searching new policies that include science, art, and technology programs, while at the same time, provide the rest of the participants with the alternative to think that it is possible to analyze the social and cultural impact of the technology system other than just technically, having a personal opinion on the Latin American reality. This new multidisciplinary working method was implemented by means of selecting students from first to fourth year, assigning them specific projects and artist-teachers of the field for creating interactive digital works and bio-art works. For implementing these methods, the following characteristics were taken from different areas: (1) controversy and an innovating view (Art); (2) experimenting with new formats (Art); (3) methods offered by

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

253

design (Design); (4) depending on the project, the message of this method can be more or less clear and straightforward (Design) or more or less abstract and vague (Art); (5) scientific critical thinking (Science); (6) making science available to everyone, reaching non-expert public (Science + Art); and (7) capitalization of concepts/ideas according to new representation forms (Multimedia). As educators, we have set our goal in avant-garde teaching alternatives that stimulate creativity and that offer a solid comprehensive training for professionals who are capable of creating their own multimedia products or services. During the students training process, and thanks to the general theoretical framework and constant practice, they acquire knowledge that enable them to understand the underlying rationale for the software and systems they are developing, a skill that any professional must have when pursuing a leadership role in projects. Thus, interactive design can be seen as a true creative industry in the region with qualified resources for project management and leadership, being highly competitive for developing assessments, research and data collection of systems, basic software and applications, by using the most appropriate techniques, tools and methods in each case. Currently, the Latin American context encourages the emergence of interactive design as a creative and sustainable industry, supported not only by the opportunity given by a growing market but also by trained professionals who are prepared to deal with this challenge with a multidisciplinary education.

References
Acha, J. (1991). Introduction to the theory of designs (Introduccin a la Teora de los Diseos). Mexico D.F.: Ed. Trillas. Arias, E., Eden, H., Fischer, G., Gorman, A., & Scharff, E. (2000). Transcending the individual human mindCreating shared understanding through collaborative design. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (USA), 7(1), 84-113. Brnner, J. (2001). Chile: Report and technological capacity index (Chile: Informe e ndice sobre capacidad tecnolgica). Instituto de Economa Poltica, Universidad Adolfo Ibez. Retrieved from http://www.educarchile.cl/medios/20010830120501.pdf Chaves, N. (2006). The corporate image: Theory and practice of institutional identification (La imagen corporativa: Teora y prctica de la identificacin institucion). Barcelona: Coleccin GG Diseo. Costa, J. (2003a). Corporate image in the XXI century (Imagen corporativa en el siglo XXI). Buenos Aires: La Cruja. Costa, J. (2003b). Communication in action: Report on the new management cultura (La comunicacin en accin: Informe sobre la nueva cultura de la gestin). Buenos Aires: Editorial Paids. Frascara J. (2004). Graphic design and communication (Diseo grfico y comunicacin). Buenos Aires: Ediciones Infinito. Frascara, J. (2000). Graphic design for people (Diseo grfico para la gente). Buenos Aires: Ediciones Infinito. Fraticola, P. (2002). Antecedent of the Bauhaus: Compilation of the book Bauhaus 1919-1933 (Antecedentes de la Bauhaus: Recopilacin del libro Bauhaus 1919-1933). Retrieved from http://www.imageandart.com/tutoriales/historia_diseno/bauhaus/bauhaus.html Fraticola, P. (2004). The movement is the message: Compiling content of Hillman Curtis (El movimiento es el mensaje: Compilacin de contenidos de Hillman Curtis). Retrieved from http://www.imageandart.com/tutoriales/teoria/mensaje/mensaje.html Fraticola, P. (2005). Guide for the design and evaluation of digital communication (Gua para el Diseo y Evaluacin de Proyectos de Comunicacin Digital). Retrieved from http://www.imageandart.com/tutoriales/teoria/guia_web/index.html Garca Torres, M. (2004). Communication in the design process (Part 1) (La comunicacin en el proceso de diseo (1ra. parte)). Retrieved from http://www.imageandart.com/tutoriales/teoria/proceso_disenio/2da_parte/index.htm Goodwin, K. (2009). Designing for the digital age: How to create human-centered products and services. New Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons. Gropius, W. (1966). The new architecture and the Bauhaus (La nueva arquitectura y la Bauhaus). Barcelona: Editorial Lumen. Heinz, D. (1996). New guide for scientific research (Nueva gua para la investigacin cientfica). Mexico D.F.: Ed. Coleccin Ariel.

254

DESIGNTOWARDS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY FOR THE LATIN AMERICAN REALITY

Hernndez Sampieri, R. (2010). Research methodology (Metodologa de la Investigacin). Mexico D.F.: Ed. McgrawHill Interamericana. Kolko, J. (2011). Thoughts on interaction design. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann. Magaa Tabilo, A. (2007). Creative and strategic education of design (Educacin creativa y estratgica del diseo). Retrieved from http://foroalfa.org/articulos/educacion-creativa-y-estrategica-del-diseno Rodrguez Morales, L. (1989). Design theory (Teora del Diseo). Mexico D.F.: Mexico: Universidad Autnoma Metropolitana Azcapotzalco. Rogers, Y., Sharp, H., & Preece, J. (2011). Interaction design: Beyond humanComputer interaction. New Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons. Scott, R. (2006). Foundation of design (Fundamentos del Diseo). Mexico D.F.: Ed. Limusa. Seoul Metropolitan City Government. (2011). World design survey 2010. Retrieved from http://www.icograda.org/programmes/worlddesignsurvey.htm Tudor, R. (2008). The pedagogy of creativity: Understanding higher order capability development in design and arts education. Higher education, arts and creativity (Vol. 4). Proceedings of the 4th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education. Barcelona: Global University Network for Innovation. Vilchis, L. (2000). Design methodology (Metolodoga del diseo). Mexico D.F.: Centro UNAM. Wolkowicz, C. (2000). Methodology of design process (Metodologa del proceso de diseo). Facultad de Arquitectura, diseo y Urbanismo, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Retrieved from http://www.wolkoweb.com.ar/apuntes/index.html

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 April 2013, Vol. 3, No. 4, 255-262

DA VID

PUBLISHING

Possessions Ceded for the Benefit of the Hospitals and Churches From the Sighisoara County
Mariana Borcoman
Transylvania University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania

Transilvania is a province of the actual state of Romania, geographically situated in the middle of the country, in the inner arch of the Carpathians. Starting with the 10th century, the territory of Transilvania became attractive for the neighboring Hungarian royalty and later on, in the 11th century it was annexed into Hungary. For a better control of the newly annexed territory and in order to convert the orthodox population to Catholicism, the Hungarian rulers brought the Szeklers to Transilvania and two centuries later, German originating populations, from Rhine, Luxemburg, and Saxony (the name of Sas people, or Saxon of Transilvania derives from Saxony). The aim of this paper is to focus on the Sighisoara County, namely on the easement of certain areas for temporary or permanent maintenance or use by the church and hospitals in the region. That was a common practice in Medieval Europe aimed at ensuring the survival means for these institutions. However, it was not the only one to serve this goal. There were also donations on behalf of various people or allocations of money by the county authorities. The documents attesting this are unpublished, unedited and are to be found in the archives of the Brasov County, Budapest, and Vienna. They are the stepping stone of this paper and hence, they grant its originality. The objectives of the paper are to bring arguments in favor of the thesis that community money was directed towards meeting the needs of the hospitals, as well as towards supporting the widows, the orphans, and the needy ones. Worth noting in this respect is the management of the funds ceded to the church and county hospitals and that actually benefitted the whole community. Moreover, the paper also emphasizes the role played by education, since the latter is an important landmark for a communitys development level. Keywords: county, craft, dica tax, possessions, great landed property, magistrate, bestowed properties

The History of the Sighisoara Fortress and County


Historical Attestation of the Fortress According to existent data, the Saxon fortress, situated above the banks of the Tarnava River, was erected after the Mongolian invasion, which was said to have caused substantial damage, toward the end of the 13th century. Before its construction, the site had been occupied by an older settlement and the territory was organized by the Hungarian royalty like a county, where, later on there will be the Saxon county. The name of the place Sighisoara raised a lot of interest and it was analyzed within the Saxon Transilvanian Dictionary by Wollf (1889) who considered that The site was first mentioned by documents in
Mariana Borcoman, lecturer, Departament Sociology and Cumunication, University Transsylvania of Brasov.

256

POSSESSIONS CEDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES

1280, under the name Castrum Sex, then, in 1349, its name had become Castru Sches, in 1429Schespurch (pp. 34-35). At the same time, it is considered that the name comes from Hungarian, seges, meaning fortress, and in documents it appears as Seguswar (Kisch, 1924, pp. 152-153). The Romanian name of the fortress comes from the Hungarian toponym Segeswar, in German Schgesburg and the Latin version Castrum Sex appears for the first time written in a document dating in 1320 (Nussbcher, 1994, p. 138), therefore, it will be later on mentioned in documents of the Saxon counties as Castroschez (1402), Castroschesch (1423), There is no mentioning related to a specific order in which the name is used (among theTtransilvanian fortresses), but it may have been a mere organization of the territory, probably connected with the role detained by the representative of the county (Nussbcher, 1994, p. 138). The name of the place referred to the upper part of the town and the Romanian term Schegischone was for the first time used by Vlad Dracul, the voivode of Principality of Wallachia, in a document dated July 1, 1435 (Kroner, 1998, p. 77), and The fortress to which Sighisoara owes its name used to be one of the border fortresses of the Hungarian empire, built with the purpose of consolidating the Hungarian empire in Transilvania, after the year of 1000, when the extreme southern border of Hungary was the linia drawn by Tarnava Mare River (Horedt, 1958, p. 119). The oldest documentary attestation of Sighisoara is dated in 1298, at the time when a papal letter was sent from Rome, as a privilege for St. Marys Church from Sighisoara (Nussbcher, 1985, p. 98). In the beginning a traders place evolved into an important town, situated on Tarnava valley, close to aeului valley and later on in 1337, the county of Sighisoara, having the administrative center in Sighisoara was mentioned (Zimmermann, 1990, p. 490) (next to other counties such as Sibiu, Medias, and Rupea) and it became an important center for crafts activity coordination. These crafts represented associations of craftsmen grouped into trades and documents prove that in Sighisoara there were 10 crafts, apart from which there were many craftsmen who were not included in any crafts as compared with Cluj ans Sibiu, each with 11 crafts, and Brasov, with 9 crafts (Nussbcher, 1967, p. 5). The crafts used to stand against anyone who would practice their trades illegally, and therefore, crafts enjoyed protection from University and privileges from Wallachian rulers. We can notice the important role played by crafts within the fortress, accordingly crafts would receive their own tower, from the fortress fortified walls, to be administered, while the richest people used to hold administrative positions (such as minor ruler or mayor). Sighisoara lies at 350m high above the sea level and due to this reason Tarnava River has so many tributaries. The hills around the town, on each side of Tarnava River, are up to 150m high and they are terraced. South of the town there are two tributaries of Tarnava River flowing: Valea aeului and the small creek Valea Cinelui. These two streams divide the town into three sectors: (1) the Fir-Tree Forest/Romanian Pdurea de brad (< germ. Gelben Burg) Bii street, 692m high; (2) Galtenburg, nowadays the Central part (Post Office); and (3) the Upper Plateau/Romanian Platoul de sus, the highest region. Demographic Data The number of people in town was important and relevant for taxation. In the town, there was a tax named dica (1, 2 gold coins), representing small taxation units per neighborhoods and according to which we can deduce the number of inhabitants. In the county, a system of 10 units Zahlzins was imposed. The population of Sighisoara, following the census of 1,489, included 600 households, 20 aliens (without a house), three

POSSESSIONS CEDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES

257

administrative representatives of the town, two millers, nine poor people, and four shepherds. Based on taxation methods of 1589, there resulted that there were 848 tax-paying people, amounting up to 590.50 dica tax (Gref, 1998, p. 60). In 1631, Sighisoara numbered 2,115 inhabitants and, due to the plague, there were uninhabited households. In 1700, there were 5,579 people; in 1851, there were 7,206 people; and in 1893, there were 9,629 people, out of whom 54.45% were Saxons, 25.40% were Romanians, 16.38% were Hungarians, and 3.77% were of other ethnicity. In the 20th century, records show a decrease of the Saxon population due to deportations to Russia and to emigrations to Germany. Schools Apart from the church, the school played an important role for the community of Sighisoara (and even for the neighbouring villages of the county, since they sent school attendants there). A well-organized education must have been established soon after the Saxon settlement. Yet, written evidence appears later (the 14th century), only in 1522 (Nussbcher, 1985, p. 60); nevertheless, there must have existed a good school in Sighisoara for some of the students to be able to be accepted by European universities. This particular school was placed near the church up the hill. The first student graduating from this school and being recorded by the University of Vienna was in 1402, Nicolaus de Castroschez, whereas, in Kracow, in 1465, there was another student, Petrus Benedicti. The titles granted by these universities included baccauleus and magister artium, and they could lead to obtaining better paid jobs abroad or, to becoming administrative clerks, back home. There are historical records in this respect, dating from the fifteenth century, Johanes Polner secretary of Queen Mary of Hunagry; Marcus Polner, Doctor in Roman Law and priest in ae; Nicolaus Pictoris, Doctor n Free Arts and Notary of Braov, Ambrozius Rustici, graduate with Bacalaureus atrium, a senator then mayor (Nussbcher, 1994, p. 128). We can also track the school evolution for the next century; for example, we are informed by documents of 1522 that school principals were paid by the community, that the school in Sighisoara detained an egal status with the school established by Honterus, in Brasov (Nussbcher, 1994, p. 145) and that pupils in Sighisoara attended the superior level of the high school in Brasov to become notaries and rectors in Sighisoara. In this respect, it is remarkable the case of Laureniu Kursch, graduate of Honterus high school, who continued his studies in Wittemberg, and then returned to become a minister in Sighisoara, and, between 1583 and 1595, a priest in Cri, and who drew up the oldest rural school regulation from Transilvania (Nussbcher, 1994, p. 147). Students who could not afford school fees, but were eager to learn, were granted stipends (study allowances), which were recorded within the towns expenses. Much later, in the 18th century, a girl-school was built and in 1784, a Romanian school was established in Sighisoara. The role detained by the church inside the community denoted an economic power, able to sustain such institutions. Hospitals Hospitals provided services for both the towns people and for the administrative representatives. In Sighisoara, there were two such institutions: One hospital affiliated to St. Anthony church, managed by a rector and by the priest, both elected by the towns magistrate whose authority had been empowered by Matei Corvin, in 1487, while from the text of the document we can deduce that the hospital had been in place since 1461 (Nussbcher, 1981, p. 97). The site of the hospital was outside the walls of the fortress. The second hospital was destined to lepers, in the opposite side of the town, attested ever since 1507. Both hospitals benefited from some

258

POSSESSIONS CEDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES

allowances given by the magistrate and by the Transilvanian leaders (September 21, 1549the magistrate confirmed the donation of a pond to the hospitals in Sighisoara, from an inhabitant from Noitat, Cincu county, situated in the deserted land of elina). In exchange for such donations, the magistrate promised the inhabitants of Noitat, whose property was rather small, to allow them to graze their horses in the deserted land (DJAN Bv A.M.O.S., 1773); on May 2, 1575, tefan Bathory, Transilvanias ruler was notifying Ladislau Sombori, the tenant of the rulers decimal taxes, that he had bestowed St. Anthony Hospital and St. Spirit Hospital the entire decimal tax value and the incomes of the deserted lands to the town and county of Sighisoara, bordered by Reti, Moha, Daia, Brcut, Meindorf, and Hendorf villages and thus he interdicted Sighisoara peoples prevention from collecting other taxes and has decided upon the free use of the resulting money (DJAN Bv A.M.O.S., 1782, pp. 1-2). In the city there was a public bath, attested from 1511. It was placed in the middle of the town on the street named Bath. The bath administrator, also nicknamed bath craftman is mentioned in the towns records of 1522, as a person coming from Media and who was granted a loan for moving and settling in Sighisoara (Teutsch, 1853, p. 161). Plague outbreaks were so common in the Middle Ages, and the did not spare the town of Sighisoara. There were mentioning in this respect, reported by chronicler Kraus, for the seventeenth century: in 1603, a time when 2,000 people got killed from the disease; in 1663 and in 1664, when the very wife of the chronicler died, too: in Sighisoara, 4676 souls passed away, from June to December, especially the men who had been the wisest and the most reliable (Kraus, 1879, p. 15). Ecclesiastic Organization: The Churches The oldest ecclesiastic construction is the church of the Dominican Monastery, erected at the beginning of the 13th century, in Roman style (which makes it the first attested church). The inside of the church is special, it consists of lecterns old ever since the fourteenth century and some fresco remains, displayed all over the church, both in the choir and on the nave ceilings (Oprescu, 1957, p. 189), the altars are also made of painted wood. The old building of the monastery was demolished in 1886. The church on the hill was erected in the fourteenth century. Together with the Black Church from Brasov, the Evangelic Parish Church from Sibiu and the one from Bistrita, these churches belong to an architectural style created by local craftsmen. Displaying Gothic elements in its construction, the church holds a strategic position in relation with the space around it, it being situated on the highest point of the fortress. Ever since its construction, this church benefited from numerous donations from noble men of the neighborhood (Mrghindeal, Vulcan). In the 15th century, the priests house was built, during the mandate of Mayor Michael Polnar. Both these two buildings house organs, which are still in use nowadays. Apart from the two churches of the upper part of the town, in the lower part there was a church belonging to the hospital (dated in the 15th century) dedicated to St. Anthony and another one dedicated to St. Nicholas (this church was bestowed with the commodities of Vulcan village of Sighisoara county). In the 15th century, a priests house was built, during the mandate of Mayor Michael Polnar, from 1483 until 1491 (F. Mller, 1853, p. 330). On the banks of Tarnava River was the leper hospital, where, in the sixteenth century a church was built (Schuller, 1934, p. 38). Churches benefited from donations: Such as the one confirmed by Ioan Zapolya, prince of Transilvania, which consisted of 2 silver coins yearly, destined to the monastery of St.

POSSESSIONS CEDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES

259

Dominic Order from Sighisoara, dedicated to Virgin Mary, a church built by Vladislav II in 1501 and that benefited from two extra silver coins donation (DJAN Bv A.O.S., 1750, p. 1). The spiritual superior organization of Saxons was structured into units named deaneries or capitulums, organized as such ever since their colonization time. They were led by a dean, named by the bishop and by an archdeacon and ever since 1281-1370, the records regarding the papal taxation in Hungary mentioned the deaneries (G. Mller, 1934, p. 40). The structure of the capitulum was not identical with the one of the countys administration or the districts; they were more numerous, namely 24for the royal land (as compared to nine Saxon counties and two districts existing in Transilvania). The Saxons had to pay a yearly tax to the Catholic church and another one to the Evangelic church, Kathedralzins tax and the dates for paying these taxes were on St. Nicholas day and on St. Georges day. On the territory of Sighisoara county, there were two capitulums: Saschiz and Laslea, and only several villages belonged to the Bgagiu capitulum, from two counties. Saschiz capitulum included the villages Archita, Buneti, Dane, Viscri, Drueni, Brdeni, Saschiz, Cloaterf, Beia, Meindorf, Noul Ssesc, Roade, Sae, Sighisoara, Fier, Jimbor, Apold, and Valeni (so, there were also villages belonging to neighboring countiesRupea, Cincu, and of the county of Alba Superioar). Part of the capitulums archives was destroyed, but there are still preserved documents in the archives from Brasov and in the archives belonging to the consistorium in Cluj. Laslea capitulum included villages Nade, Laslea, and others from Alba county. The two capitulums were neighboring Medias capitulum to the Northwest, Cincu capitulum to the Southwest, ara Brsei capitulum to the Southwest and Cincu-Kozd capitulum to the South. Associated capitulums formed dioceses (G. Mller, 1934, p. 106). The activity of the capitulums deans consisted of numerous tasks: They were in charge with visiting villages, held the right to hire and revoke priests, and they had to collect the taxes for the church.

Possessions Bestowed
Vulcan-Property of St. Nicholas Church From Sighisoara The village situated at the border of Sighisoara county, on the territory of Alba county, was for a long time disputed by the two administrative structures. Apparently, properties coexisted in parallel: part of the village belonged to Sighisoara county and another part of it used to be a noblemans possession. The village lies South of Sighisoara, close to Apold village. Another village, by the same name existed also in ara Brsei. The documentary attestation of the village was in 1315, by a document confirmed by King Carol Robert, a document showing that Vulcan was bought by Count Blavus, son of Arnold (Nussbcher, 1991, p. 6), as his own property. Count Blavus transmits his legacy to his sons Martin and Nicolaus. At the end of the century, in 1396, Counts of Archita, Brdeni, and Reti, who had possessions in the village, sold them to the town of Sighisoara, the document being confirmed by the Town Hall administration and later on this estate was ceded to the church. Part of the village remained in noblemens possession. The right of property in the village remains debatable, while in 1391, the ruler of Transilvania, Ladislau of Losoncz, gives one half of Vulcan village to Count Petrus of Vulcan (Nussbcher, 1992, p. 4). The churchs assets grow larger in 1438 and by a donation from Katharina, widowed to Egidius Parvus, citizen of Sighisoara, who had ceded his property in Vulcan, including 19 houses (Nussbcher, 1992, p. 4). The church

260

POSSESSIONS CEDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES

stipulated its subordinates duties to pay the St. Martin tax to the church, to participate at erecting buildings, these people being free individuals of the county, although the village had been bought from Count Johannes of Mrghindeal in 1444. King Matei Corvin of Hungary ceded the village to the county of Sighisoara in 1487; therefore, we find it mentioned by the census of 1488, including 32 households, and one century later, in 1531, voivode Ioan Zapolya confirmed the fact that Vulcan belonged to Sighisoara, while in 1590, Sigismund Bathory, ruler of Transilvania, ceded the village to St. Nicholas church from Sighisoara (Fabinni, 1998, p. 813). Starting with 1629, Gabriel Bethlen, prince of Transilvania, on request from Martin Vassas, the mayor of Sighisoara town, agreed with the document of December 19, 1521, issued by Ludovic II, with regard to the exclusion of Vulcan village from Alba county and its inclusion into Sighisoara county (DJAN Bv A.M.O.S., 1782, pp. 15-19). Consequently, we can affirm that the situation of the village was rather sensitive, and it seemed that the church benefited from this estate until the nineteenth century. Properties Belonging to Hospitals in Sighisoara Michael the Brave. Situated at 7 km away from Saschiz, close to the village of Cri, Mihai Viteazu village used to be a noblemans property and, similarly with Vulcans history, part of this village remained under the administration of Alba county. In 1383, Salomon, son of Michael of Sighioara, owns the Zoltan estate and in 1446, Michael Salamonis of Nade donates part of his property to the hospital (Fabinni, 1998, p. 837). Data regarding this village remain very unclear, the hospital did not benefit from this property for long, because, in 1669, the village is abandoned and part of its inhabitants go to Roade. We cannot say which the reasons for abandoning this place were, neither the magistrates protocols nor the towns records kept track of this village. Prediul Wosling (elina). This village finds itself in the same unclear situation just as Mihai Viteazu village. It used to be a commonly used area among the villages of the county: Reti, Grnari, Brcut, Daia, Meindorf, and Brdeni. Taxes coming from these communities had been donated in 1575, by tefan Bathory, the prince of Transilvania, to Sancti Spiriti Hospital (the leper hospital) and to Brati Antony (St. Anthonys) Hospital (F. Mller, 1885, 1886, pp. 61-62). In Sighisoaras archives, there are some documents related to this territory. On December 14, 1614, at Alba Iulia, Gabriel Bethlen, prince of Translvania, decided that serfs who had fled from various parts of Transilvania to Telina deserted land, which belonged to Sighisoara town, to be taken back to their previous masters, while people of Sighisoara held the right to colonize, on this territory, people from the overpopulated regions of Transilvania, people whom they might keep under control so that they did not cause any trouble to their neighbors (DJAN Bv, Miscellaneous documents, 1862). Another document of April 29, 1621, issued at Alba Iulia by tefanus Bethlen of Iktar, the princes deputy, on requested by Sighisoaras magistrate, forbade authorities of Alba county to tax those three or four households situated in the territory named Telina deserted land, because it was on royal land and it had never paid taxes under the authority of Alba county, as results from the research undergone by some Kemeny Boldisar (DJAN Bv, Miscellaneous documents, 1862). On September 3, 1621, the magistrate of Sighisoara town demanded of Gabriel Bethlen, the prince of Transilvania, to order his tax collectors to tax the communities of Prod, Seleuul Mare, Dane i Laslea,

POSSESSIONS CEDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES

261

following the old custom of using the countys men, but not to tax them for the previous years, since they had been very poor. With regard to the deserted land, the magistrate required of it not to be included in taxation listed because their incomes had been donated by tefan Bathory to the two hospitals in Sighisoara. The magistrate also demanded that the prince allows the settlement of some people coming from Moldova in that particular place (DJAN Bv A.O.S., 1750). Still in 1621, probably in September, the magistrate of Sighisoara town demanded of the prince of Transilvania, Gabriel Bethlen, to forbid traders of Alba county to request a tax and not to trouble those 12 Romanians who grazed the cattle of Sighisoara people in the deserted land, because this territory was a royal land. Endorsed on the document was the resolution with regard to taxes (DJAN Bv A.O.S., 1750). It was certain, though, that this territory was under the authority of Sighisoara town and the only the towns authorities decided who could live on their lands. Concerning a possible settlement of some colonists from Moldova, documents did not mention anything else.

Conclusions
Sighisoara county, established as early as the 14th century, represented a bordering area of the royal land until the 19th century. Through its structure, and due to the fact that it managed to keep under its control many villages, the county represented an organization form specific to mediaeval times. The unity of the county and its good organization owe to the hierarchy of clerks and to community structures existent in villages. The administrative representative of the county, Sighisoara fortress, witnessed numerous historical events and political changes in the Principality of Transilvania between the sixteenth century and the seventeenth century (in Sighisoara there were many legislative gatherings, the villages around the fortress hosted armed troops and witnessed many of the Turkish plunders). The historical sources that remind us of this epoch come in great numbers: from documents mentioning the establishing of crafts or certifying some older ones, to donations by Transilvanian rulers to churches or tax exemption; from various decisions made by the magistrate, preserving their interesting aspect due to their mentioning everyday lifestyles and economic-administrative organization, to protocols signed between neighboring villages; and from mayors and notaries notes, to issues regarding the well functioning of schools. All of these, together, may offer us the picture of a well-organized administrative structure that continues to exist and carries on its old tradition.

References
DJAN Bv (Romanian State Archives, Brasov County Directorate) A.M.O.S. (Archive of the Sighisoara Magistrate). (1792). No. annex 8, pp. 1-2; annex No. 7, pp. 15-19. Brasov County Directorate for State Archives of BrasovDocuments Issued by Sighisoaras Magistrate. DJAN Bv A.O.S. (Archive of the Sighisoara Town). (1750). No. 192 and No. 592a, p. 11. Romanian State Archives, Brasov County DirectorateDocuments from Sighisoara Towns Archives. DJAN Bv. (1862). Miscellaneous documentsSighisoara-elina Court Trial, file 1862, annex Di annex E, p. 1. Fabinni, H. (1998). Atlas der siebenbrghisch-schsische Kirchenburgen und Dorfkirchen, Band I (p. 813). Hermmanstadt: Monumenta Verlag. Gref, E. (1998). Schburg. Munchen: Reuterburg Verlag (Printer in Germany). Horedt, K. (1958). Contribuii la istoria Transilvaniei sec. IV-XIII. Bucureti: Editura Academiei RPR. Kisch, G. (1924). Erloschene Magyarentum im Siebenbrher Sachsenlande. Archiv des Vereins (Neue Foge). Kronstadt.

262

POSSESSIONS CEDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES

Kraus, G. (1879). Schaessburger chronik. Archiv des Vereins (Neue Foge). Kronstadt. Kroner, M. (1998). Schurg. Rastenburg: Printer in Germnay. Letz, E. (1998). Schurg. Rastenburg: Printer in Germany. Mller, F. (1853). Die Schurger Bergkirche (p. 330). Archiv des Vereins (Neue Foge). Kronstadt. Mller, F. (1885, 1886). Geschichte der siebenbrghischen Hospitlen bis zum Jahre 1625 (pp. 61-62). Program des evanghelischen Gymnasien in Schburg. Viena. Mller, G. (1934). Die Deutschen Landkapitel in Siebenbrgen und ihre Dechanten (1192-1848). Hermmmanstadt: Krafft und Drottlef. Nussbcher, G. (1967). Scurt schi a istoriei administrative a scaunului Sighioara pn la 1700. Braov: Manuscris Aflat la Arhivele Statului. Nussbcher, G. (1981). Din trecutul medical al Sighioarei. Trecut i viitor n medicin. Bucureti: Editura Medical. Nussbcher, G. (1985). Aus urkunden und chroniken (p. 98). Brasov: Editura Aldus. Nussbcher, G. (1991, December 18). Wolkendorf bei Schurg im 14. Jahrhundert. Neuer Weg, p. 6. Nussbcher, G. (1992, January 25). Wolkendorf bei Schurg im 15. Jahrhundert. Neuer Weg, p. 4. Nussbcher, G. (1994). Aus Urkunden und chroniken. Braov: Editura aldus. Oprescu, G. (1957). Bisericile ceti ale sailor n Ardeal. Bucureti: Editura Academiei. Schuller, R. (1934). Alt Schurg, Herausgegeben von Verlag I. Sighisoara: Horedth. Teutsch G. D. (1853). Die Schurger Gemeiderechnung von 1522 (p. 161). Archiv des Vereins (Neue Foge). Kronstadt. Wollf, J. (1889). Materialien zur Etimologie Siebenbrgische Ortsnamen (pp. 34-35). Korespondenzblatt des Vereins fr Siebenbrghische Landeskndes. Hermmanstadt. Zimmermann, W. (1990). Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte der Deutschen in siebenbrgens, I. Munchen (Printed in Germnay).

You might also like